Collected Poetry

VOLUME FIFTEEN  

Original materials - Copyright © 2019  by Gary Bachlund    All international rights reserved

"We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." In "Letter From Birmingham City Jail," Martin Luther King Jr., 16 April 1963.

Who just says what?

Who just says what? And who just defines Amorphous notions of hateful whines? One man hates another man's speech, And to silence one extends the reach Of who can say what and who shall define Uniformed speech, the tyrant's sign.

Uniform thought is thought controlled; An incorrect thought receives a scold. Who just says what? And who just defines When a thuggish tyrant speech maligns? The fists of power rise up to crush Whomever they deem it right to shush.

Hate means what? In what legal sense? What should it cost? What recompense Must be paid by cash, limb, or life, As each tyrant seeks to silence strife? Who just says what? And who just defines When tyranny freedom's speech maligns?

 

Envoi:   "If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all." Noam Chomsky.

 

Addendum of an Inquisition:   "...the Inquisition, guided by its founding in 1233 by the steely intellects of the Dominican order, had developed the techniques that would torment Catholic Europe and Latin America for centuries to come and, in the process, provide the model for latter- day totalitarian control of the individual conscience." In "The Perfect Heresy," by Stephen O'Shea, Profile Books, 2001.

 

Addendum of a Modern Inquisition:   "Large groups of citizens, loyal to the party and serving as informers and enforcers at the grassroots level, can be seen almost everywhere in China today. They are easily recognizable by the red armband they wear prominently. The so-called “red armbands,” mobilized masses and cadres for patrolling and inspecting, have become the instrument that the CCP uses to monitor the community, especially dissenters and religious believers. The appearance of these zealous citizens enforcing a moral and disciplinary code on their fellow citizens reminds many of past Chinese social movements, like the Fengqiao Experience or the Boxer Rebellion." by Lin Yijiang, Bitter Winter, 30 December 2018.   ^{[ 1 ]}

Addendum of Another Modern Inquisition:   "The Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice enforces traditional Islamic morality by arresting or helping to secure the arrest of people who engage in conduct that violates Islamic principles and values. They are tasked with enforcing Sharia as defined in Saudi Arabia. In addition to having the power to arrest anyone engaged in homosexual acts, prostitution or fornication, they can also arrest unrelated males and females caught socializing and enforce Islamic dress-codes, eating habits (such as the prohibition from eating pork) and store closures during the prayer time. They prohibit the consumption or sale of alcoholic beverages and seize banned consumer products and media regarded contrary to Islamic morals. They also actively prevent the religious practices of other religions within Saudi Arabia." In "Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Saudi Arabia)," Wikipedia article, n. d.   ^{[ 2 ]}

Addendum of a Choking Inquisition:   "The Justice Department has committed to ending a controversial Obama-era program that discourages banks from doing business with a range of companies, from payday lenders to gun retailers." In "Justice Department to end Obama-era 'Operation Choke Point'," by Victoria Guida, Politico, 17 August 2017. ^{[ 3 ]}

Addendum of an Artistic Inquisition:   " 'Every artist whose work appears on Netflix should be outraged that the company has agreed to censor a comedy show because the thin-skinned royals in Saudi complained about it,' a spokesperson said. 'Netflix’s claim to support artistic freedom means nothing if it bows to demands of government officials who believe in no freedom for their citizens – not artistic, not political, not comedic'." In "Outrage after Netflix pulls comedy show criticising Saudi Arabia," by Mattha Busby, Guardian UK, 1 January 2019.   ^{[ 4 ]}

Addendum of an Inquisition by Regulation:  "In short, Patreon is choosing to monitor the speech of any creators funded by its site and will apply its own standards to regulate that speech even though the speech isn’t being published or hosted at Patreon. It should go without saying that Patreon, as a private company, is free to do so. But in the video below, Peterson suggests the move to oust libertarian and right-leaning speakers is being driven by a left-wing group called Change the Terms." In "Dave Rubin and Jordan Peterson leave Patreon over free speech concerns," by John Sexton, HotAir, 2 January 2019.   ^{[ 5 ]}

 

Addendum of Dulling Inquisitions:   "...without a vibrant commitment to free and open inquiry, a university ceases to be a university." In "Report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression," University of Chicago, n. d.   ^{[ 6 ]}

NOTES   [ 1 ]   From the article: "Another historical precedent was the turn-of-the-century Boxer Rebellion. The Boxers (literally the 'Fists of Harmony and Justice') were a Chinese secret society that led the rebellion against colonialism and Christianity. Political commentator Wen Zhao sees a common thread: 'What the Boxers and the Fengqiao Experience have in common is that both are forms of mass violence manipulated by those in power to commit outrageous acts in the name of truth and glory'."           That violence and the threat of violence would be "manipulated by those in power" is that common thread which binds inquisition to inquisition throughout history and across all cultures.           In this specific Chinese Communist example:  "The social credit system is based on the government’s phrase 'once untrustworthy, always restricted', and is set to be tested further on the country’s train system from May 1, it was announced last week." In "China's 'social credit' system bans millions from travelling," by Jamie Fullerton, Telegraph UK, 24 March 2018.           One may survey modern trends in the West in this regard:  Veiled Threats - a commonality.   [ 2 ]   Similarly, as organized by such thought, one reads:   "In the book Taliban by Ahmed Rashid, the ministry is referred to as the Department of the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. Maulvi Qalamuddin, the head of the ministry during the Taliban era, preferred the English translation Department of Religious Observances. The Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice of Afghanistan was in charge of implementing Islamic rules (Hanafi principles) as defined by the Taliban. Its religious police raided the streets arresting women not fully covered and people listening to music." In "Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Afghanistan)." Wikipedia article, n. d.           And With regard to music ....   [ 3 ]   More on this "choke point":  "For those unfamiliar, Choke Point consisted of bureaucrats in several independent federal agencies taking it upon themselves to shut legal businesses – such as payday lenders and firearms dealers – out of the banking system. Given the nature of the U.S. regulatory framework, this operation was easy to pull off." In "Newly Unsealed Documents Show Top FDIC Officials Running Operation Choke Point," by Norbert Michel, Forbes, 6 November 2018.   [ 4 ]    One could consider the accusation, a relatively recent term, of Islamophobia .  That the Saudi government may exercise its political influence in another nation to push back at being ridiculed is evidence of a government and its being very Thin-skinned .   [ 5 ]    From the Change the Terms website, one reads:   "While a free and open internet creates immense social value, it can also be used to engage in hateful activities and to do so at a large scale. For example, white supremacist and other organizations inciting hate are using online platforms to organize, fund, recruit supporters for, and normalize racism, sexism, xenophobia, religious bigotry, homophobia and transphobia, among others. This chills the online speech of the targeted groups, curbs democratic participation, and threatens people’s safety and freedom in real life." In "Adopt the Terms," Change the Terms, accessed January 2019.           Thus one becomes enmeshed in the discussion, what constitutes hate. An opposing view politically can easily be defined as hate, and thus this tactic becomes thuggish in short order. Who shall "adopt" whose "terms?" Depending on the severity of the inquisition, it becomes simply a matter of exercising raw power.   Some People Don't Believe             From the article above, a seemingly compliant official at the company stated:  "We understand some people don’t believe in the concept of hate speech and don’t agree with Patreon removing creators on the grounds of violating our Community Guidelines for using hate speech. We have a different view. Patreon does not and will not condone hate speech in any of its forms."  Yet it has not defined what hate speech is.           The article notes that this is mere and sheer politics:  "...the bottom line is that very well-funded left-wing groups are pushing to 'no-platform' hate. In practice, that looks a lot like going after anyone on the right who has a different opinion. Put another way, if the Southern Poverty Law Center is now in charge of defining hate speech online, you can bet a lot of people who aren’t remotely white supremacists are going to be swept up in the dragnet as well. In June the SPLC made a $3.3 million settlement with Maajid Nawaz over his inclusion in its 'Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists.' Other groups targeted by the SPLC have said they are considering lawsuits as well."           Such circles back to the above mentioned capitulation by Netflix to the Saudi government, as one of many contemporary examples of the application of power, even national borders.           As to Patreon and their censoring of users, one reads:  " Podcast host Sam Harris objected to Patreon's approach and announced that he would be leaving the platform because of it. Shortly thereafter Patreon deleted the account of It's Going Down, a hardline left-wing news website, for doxing. Patreon CEO Jack Conte subsequently announced that he would be expanding the company's appeal process, regretting the initial wording of the letter which said '[we] will not consider an appeal'." In "Patreon," Wikipedia article, n. d.   [ 6 ]    The similarities to the various topics above cluster. In the University of Chicago protocol, one pledges with this:  "...the University is committed to the principle that it may not restrict debate or deliberation because the ideas put forth are thought to be offensive, unwise, immoral, or wrong-headed. It is for the members of the University community to make those judgments for themselves. As a corollary to this commitment, members of the University community must also act in conformity with this principle. Although faculty, students and staff are free to criticize, contest and condemn the views expressed on campus, they may not obstruct, disrupt, or otherwise interfere with the freedom of others to express views they reject or even loathe." In "Statement on Principles of Free Expression," University of Chicago, July 2012.          Consider the truths being revealed within the same old strife appearing in this time as the dissonance between Free speech, hate speech and the rage of the hopefully fading Totalitarian .   Addressing and Blunting Totalitarian Urges            The observation as above of "totalitarian control of the individual conscience" functions well as a sketch of many entities across history, and in this modern era. Such Committees for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice" as one finds in Islamic lands are akin to "Fists of Harmony and Justice" and "social credit systems and choke points strategies and de-platforming attempts as "Change the Terms" cited above espouses, all similar attempts towards the "totalitarian control of the individual conscience."          Not restricting "debate or deliberation because the ideas put forth are thought to be offensive, unwise, immoral, or wrong-headed" allows ideas, theories, narratives, debates, research and clarity to sort themselves out in a free society not dedicated to "totalitarian control." This is the new revolution.          Thus, Chomsky's assertion is pointed and clear:  "If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."          Who just says what? And who just defines / When tyranny freedom's speech maligns?

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¯\_(?)_/¯

I'll make reply quite readily.
A shrug's part of my medley.
¯\_(?)_/¯
I don't know much, that's for sure,
So I prefer to oft demure.
¯\_(?)_/¯
I'll confess, huh? not just guess.
Some might not, but I profess...
¯\_(?)_/¯

 

Addendum of ASCII:   "ASCII art is created using a fixed-width font (like on a traditional typewriter), because this is the only way to make it portable."

 

Addendum of a ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :    "Shruggie, it turns out, actually has quite an impressively rich history. According to Kyle Chayka's incredibly detailed chronicle of 'The Life and Times of ¯\_( ツ )_/¯' over at The Awl, the little ASCII fellow has been around for quite a while; however, it was only after Kanye West's now-infamous interruption of Taylor Swift during the 2009 MTV VMAs that it gained widespread usage. Travis Porter tweeted out shruggie along with the phrase 'Kanye shrug' (now, of course, a meme in and of itself as well), which seems to have spurred its adoption across every form of electronic communication imaginable." In "How Do You Type Shruggie, aka The Shrug Emoticon? Here Are 5 Ways To Get The Little Guy Into Your Life," by Lucia Peters, Bustle, 18 July 2015.

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Pronouns at play - so some people say

I'm
    Smarter than you.
    Game over. I've won.
    Thanks for the contest;
    Thanks for the fun.

You're
    Dumber than me.
    Game over. You've lost.
    I judge as jury
    You must be bossed.

He's
    Greater than you.
    You will believe
    By hook or by crook,
    Or must we deceive?

We're
    Sure to have peace
    As long as you heed
    The rules as we rule.
    You simply will heed.

You're
    Bound to submit
    To our perfect views
    And if you will not
    We'll tighten your screws.

They're
    Surely the best;
    And you will obey
    Or righteously they
    Will flay you this day.

Consider The Truth - no doubt about it

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I'd like to fill the void that God once occupied - a reflection on secular modernity

"Nietzsche’s works express a fear that the decline of religion, the rise of atheism, and the abscense of a higher moral authority would plunge the world into chaos. The western world had depended on the rule of God for thousands of years -- it gave order to society and meaning to life. Without it, Nietzsche writes, society will move into an age of nihilism. Although Nietzsche may have been considered a nihilist by definition, he was critical of it and warned that accepting nihilism would be dangerous." In "God is Dead," Philosophy Index, n. d.

 

I'd like to fill the void that God once occupied,

            And so I seek for other gods and many have applied.
The god of genitalia is hard on opening wide,
            While the god of ego preens with all it finds inside.
The godly state salutes itself with flag and proper pomp,
            While the god of money counts its riches' ripened romp.
The god of ideology is well suited to its task,
            While the god of lordly pleasures oft must wear its mask.
I'd like to fill the void that is unsatisfied,
            And so many little gods line up, all to be glorified.

 

Addendum of Choosing the Accuser to Fill the Void:    "When tensions arise in a group (as they inevitably do), people commence to cast about for a scapegoat, for someone or some group to blame. Deeply attractive, even addictive, the scapegoating move rapidly attracts a crowd, which in short order becomes a mob. In their common hatred of the victim, the blamers feel an ersatz sense of togetherness. Filled with the excitement born of self-righteousness, the mob then endeavors to isolate and finally eliminate the scapegoat, convinced that this will restore order to their roiled society. At the risk of succumbing to the reductio ad Hitlerum fallacy, nowhere is the Girardian more evident than in the Germany of the 1930s. Hitler ingeniously exploited the scapegoating mechanism to bring his country together—obviously in a profoundly wicked way." In "The Internet and Satan’s Game," by Bishop Robert Barron, Words on Fire, 22 January 2019.

 

An alternative view to the Nihilist:  I prefer a vital God

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Wonder Boy looks small and pale

"Elle relève d'une recherche quasi mystique, à l'image de la recherche du nombre d'or ou de la divine proportion dans la Grèce antique." In "Emmanuel Macron ou Jupiter 2.0 ?" by Harold Hauzy, 31 May 2017.

 

Wonder Boy looks small and pale
In the lashing light of day;
Great he was on the glistening screens;
That slogan-slick image fades away.
Reality is that glaring light
Which strips pretense's play.
After 'The End' life goes on;
Tomorrow still has its say.
Wonder Boy was a role with lines
But behind the script's scrawled fray
Hid the ordinary and average
Which spotlights don't display.
Reality's not a fine fan of tales
Which repeat, rerun, replay.
Wonder Boy looks small and frail
In the slashing light of day.

 

Envoi:   " 'C'est le roi. Il ne voit rien rien rien rien', enrage Philippe, 74 ans et chef de file d'un groupe de 'gilets jaunes' qui filtre régulièrement la circulation dans la région du Mans." In " 'Gilets jaunes': la 'haine' contre le 'roi' Macron, moteur de la colère," Agence France Presse/ Le Point, 5 December 2018.

 

Addendum of the Same Old Same Old:    "Research published last week by the Cevipof political institute at Sciences Po university found more than two thirds of the French people still had overwhelmingly negative views of politicians. When asked to sum up their feelings towards them, 37 percent said they felt 'distrust', 32 percent 'disgust', eight percent 'boredom' and four percent 'fear'." In "Same old elite? Macron's 'revolution' fails with fed up French," France 24/Agence France Presse, 18 January 2019.

 

Addendum with a Sting from the Left:   "Macron is a skinny little-trained seal in a circus where we cannot even see the ringmaster." In "Dear France: I Told You Le Pen Really Mattered," by Phil Butler, New Eastern Outlook, 31 January 2019.

 

Addendum of Seeking to be a Geopolitical Power:   "Emmanuel Macron, the French president, has warned European countries that they can no longer rely on America to defend NATO allies. 'What we are currently experiencing is the brain death of NATO,' Mr Macron declares in a blunt interview with The Economist. Europe stands on 'the edge of a precipice', he says, and needs to start thinking of itself strategically as a geopolitical power; otherwise we will' no longer be in control of our destiny'." In "Emmanuel Macron warns Europe: NATO is becoming brain-dead," The Economist, 7 November 2019.   ^{[ 1 ]}

 

Addendum of Expecting Someone Else to Pay: "France, 1.78%," in "Here's who is paying the agreed-upon share to NATO — and who isn't," by Paul Szoldra and Associated Press, 16 February 2017.   ^{[ 2 ]}

 

Addendum of Germany's Response to France -- This Time:   "Macron told The Economist this week that NATO was experiencing 'brain death', citing a lack of coordination and U.S. unpredictability under President Donald Trump. He also expressed doubt about the U.S.-led alliance's security maxim that an attack on one ally would be treated as an attack on all. 'It would be a mistake if we undermined NATO. Without the United States, neither Germany nor Europe will be able to effectively protect themselves,' Maas wrote in a column published online by Der Spiegel magazine. Maas supported Macron’s call to strengthen Europe's defense capabilities. 'That's why together with France, we are working hard to build a Europe that works much closer together in security policy', Maas wrote." In "Germany warns France against undermining NATO security alliance," by Michael Nienaber, Reuters, 10 November 2019.

 

Addendum of Paris' Child Prostitutes:   "... la plupart des prostituées mineures (trois garçons seulement étaient concernés) sont très jeunes. L’âge des victimes signalées à la protection de l'enfance va de 6 à 17 ans, et un tiers d’entre elles ont moins de 15 ans." In "Déscolarisation et violences : une étude dresse le portrait de la prostitution des mineures en Seine-Saint-Denis," Par PDB, France 3 PIDF/AFP, 12 November 2019.   ^{[ 3 ]}

 

Addendum of Madame Minister of Defense and the French Navy:   "Florence Parly separately said France 'deplored' both U.S. President Donald Trump’s unilateral withdrawal of America from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that led to the re-imposition of crushing sanctions, as well as Tehran recently breaking the deal’s enrichment, stockpile and centrifuge limits. While saying France would continue to talk to Iran, her speech before the annual Manama Dialogue in Bahrain struck a muscular tone for Paris, which maintains a naval base in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates." In "French minister criticizes US over 'unanswered' Iran attacks," by Jon Gambrell, Associated Press, 23 November 2019.   ^{[ 4 ]}

 

Addendum of an America Conservative's Questions:   "...that Cold War is long over. Berlin is the united free capital of Germany. The Warsaw Pact has been dissolved. Its member states have all joined NATO. The Soviet Union split apart into 15 nations. Communist Yugoslavia splintered into seven nations. As a fighting faith, communism is dead in Europe. Why then are we Americans still over there?" In "Is Macron Right? Is NATO, 70, Brain Dead?" by Pat Buchanan, Townhall, 26 November 2019.

 

Addendum of a Turkish Question:   "Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Emmanuel Macron's warning that NATO was dying reflects a 'sick and shallow' understanding, telling the French president 'you should check whether you are brain dead'. The comments drew a swift rebuke from the French foreign ministry, which summoned Turkey's ambassador to Paris to protest over what a French presidential adviser called 'insults'." In "Are you ‘brain-dead’? Turkey’s Erdogan raps Macron before NATO summit," by Ezgi Erkoyun and Ali Kucukgocmen, Reuters, 29 November 2019.

 

Addendum of Increases for the Worse:  "Place Beauvau is forced to admit this: 'As in 2018, deliberate assault and battery on people aged 15 and over recorded a sharp increase in 2019 (+ 8%).' Similarly, concerning sexual violence, 'after a year 2018 marked at national level by a significant increase (+ 19%), the year 2019 also shows a very clear increase in this violence (+ 12%)'." In "Agressions, viols, tentatives d’homicide: la délinquance a explosé en France en 2019," by Jean-Marc Leclerc, Le Figaro, 16 January 2020.

 

Addendum of Wonder Boy's Impatience:   " 'I'm impatient for European solutions,' Macron said." In " 'The West is winning,' U.S. tells China; France wary," by Robin Emmott and John Irish, Reuters, 15 February 2020.   ^{[ 5 ]}

 

Addendum of a Gunpowder Smell:    " 'A gunpowder smell spreads over the country,' wrote the essayist, Maxime Tandonnet. 'Never since the Liberation, even in the worst times, has a team in power been hated so much. The vast majority of the people reject it to a point that is difficult to express.' He added that he hopes 'one or more heroes will emerge from the apocalypse'. At the moment, regrettably, no hero is in sight." In "France: Post-Pandemic Disaster?" by Guy Millière, Gatestone Institute, 8 June 2020.  ^{[ 6 ]}

 

Addendum of Gunpowder Smell in Dijon:   " 'Unrest has been going on for the past three nights,' a Dijon police source said on Monday. 'Chechen gangs linked to the drug trade and other criminal activity have mobilised to take part in battles with other gangs. 'Weapons including Kalashnikovs, axes and baseball bats are being carried openly on the streets, and live ammunition is being fired. People are terrified'." In "France sends the army into Dijon as city is turned into a war zone by assault rifle-toting Chechen gangs mounting revenge attacks on Arab gangsters for beating of 16-year-old," by Peter Allen and Milly Vincent, For Mailonline, 15 June 2020.

 

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose?

 

NOTES   [ 1 ]    France under Napoleon exercises a "control" of French destiny, turning a phrase. For that French "control," across much of France's history, wars, conquests, colonialist and military interventions by France included much of Europe and Russia, many parts of North Africa as well as , China, Indochine, Korea and Japan, Syria and Lebanon, Algeria and more.           Some detail:   "During the Napoleonic Wars, France conquered Egypt, Belgium, Holland, much of Italy, Austria, much of Germany, Poland and Spain. France directly conquered or controlled through alliance most of western Europe by 1812. Driven by a desire to spread the French revolutionary principles throughout Europe, Napoleon first conquered Egypt to cripple British trade. He returned to France and, using both diplomacy and warfare, conquered neighboring states. Because much of Europe at the time was fragmented principalities and semi-autonomous states similar to modern Monaco or Luxembourg, it was simple to take over each country a bit at a time." In "What Countries Did Napoleon Conquer?" Reference.com, n. d.           As Macron speaks not only for and of France's part in this "control of our destiny," he also speaks of Europe's behaviors. Given the two world wars, with Germany occupying France and many other European nations for a time, thinking "geopolitically" as a power seems megalomaniacal.   [ 2 ]    The notion that a 70-year old North Atlantic Treaty Organization should continue for a Europe of 450 million, as compared to the United States' 350 million citizens, suggests that France's underwhelming part in this treaty is less than "the agreed-upon share."           As to the US and its defense "umbrella," one reads:   "In overall terms, in 2017, the United States’ total national-defence outlays amounted to US$602.8 billion. This was the equivalent of 70.1% of aggregate spending by all NATO member states. The second-highest spender was the United Kingdom, accounting for 5.9% of NATO’s total defence expenditure, as measured by the IISS." In "The US and its NATO allies: costs and value," by Lucie Béraud-Sudreau and Nick Childs, IISS, 9 July 2018.   France and Germany Are Among Those Who Do not Pay Enough             One reads:   "Only five Nato Nations meet the 2 per cent target, including Britain. France and Germany are among those who do not, paying 1.79 per cent and 1.22 per cent respectively." In "Nato contributions by country – which nations pay the most and least and how many meet the two per cent GDP target?" by Aletha Adu, Sun UK, 12 July 2018.                     That Macron "warns" of a "brain drain" in NATO is amusing, for its 2018 "1.79 percent" when examined. France is under-performing in its obligation to NATO, and yet France's leader in the moment worries. Where might one find this "brain death?"           The North Atlantic Treaty Organization: "NATO promotes democratic values and enables members to consult and cooperate on defence and security-related issues to solve problems, build trust and, in the long run, prevent conflict." In "What is NATO?" NATO. int, n. d.           The new international questions are: defense against what?  Prevent which conflicts? France's part in this is underwhelming at less than two percent of the whole, while Macron fusses politically at an American president. From which geopolitical arena does France -- indeed all of Europe -- require "defense" at this point in time? The USSR collapsed. Neither France nor Germany have not attacked neighboring nations is many decades. From where comes the next military threat to France, as a nation, and indeed Europe as a whole? Perhaps all nations in this treaty organization should reduce their spending to France's exemplary level? It's a thought....   [ 3 ]     Or "......most minor female prostitutes (only three boys were involved) are very young. The age of victims reported to child protection ranges from 6 to 17 years, and a third of them are under 15 years of age."           Macron seems not to have France in general, and its capital city in particular, in "control" of its destiny, weak of will to provide for its own defense, yet vocally critical of others who might not be willing to defend Europe, given that it seems unable to defend itself. Perhaps this is why Agence France Presse's poll of this year found a public view of French politicians, that "37 percent said they felt 'distrust', 32 percent 'disgust', eight percent 'boredom' and four percent 'fear'. Who is "brain dead?"   [ 4 ]   One could ask whether France's -- or any other European defense forces -- have "answered" Iran's "unanswered attacks."  A search shows France deploring the US for not acting, although France has not acted. Ah well. It is easier to criticize than to take on a chore.   Consider the wish for "deplorable" American Cads , because "La belle France" is looking for them to do what "she" wants. So that she does not have to, given her naval base in Abu Dhabi.           Some smaller EU members are considering sending a ship to participate. So will this become a European navy facing down the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies?  Turkey as a member of NATO will participate on which side?  Will such European action be seen as evidence of Islamophobia ?           This is a case of a nation or nations saying to the United States, "Let's you and them fight."   Time will tell.   [ 5 ]     Impatient for European solutions? So, solve something in your European manner, Monsieur Européen. No one is stopping you.   [ 6 ]     It has become habit for the Left -- as distinct from the liberal -- to discount an opinion from any "voice" not approved of by an ever-shifting and rapidly changing rule for inclusion or exclusion.           With that in mind, one reads within the article a quote referring to those who permitted Islamic separatism within France itself:   "As I'd said in my last essay (The Traitors): at the root of French misfortune, there are French traitors who bear French first names. They have been abusing the voters' trust for more than 40 years, lied about the real state of society, and ransacked the fragile country. They are primarily responsible for this separatism at which they are upset today, after having denied it, for a long time denied."           The original:   "Comme je le rappelle dans mon dernier essai (Les Traîtres) : à la source du malheur français, il y a des traîtres français qui portent des prénoms français. Cela fait quarante ans et plus qu'ils abusent de la confiance des électeurs, mentent sur la réalité de la société, saccagent la nation fragile. Ils sont les premiers responsables de ce séparatisme dont ils s’émeuvent aujourd'hui, après l'’avoir, de surcroît, longtemps nié." In "Ceux qui ont permis le séparatisme islamiste," by Ivan Rioufol, Le Figaro, 19 February 2020.

 

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Unsourced games

 

Try to cite the sources,
    As 'experts say' speaks dumb.
        Name and clearly reference
            As the obvious rule of thumb.
                Assertions without sourcing,
                    Citations to be checked,
                        Is that old three card monte
Assuring disconnect.
Believe, an anonymous source says,
                        Because of -- well, you know --,
                    Is a shill game played by many
                Who dance their dazzling show.
            But 'they' tells nothing really,
        When 'they' have no named names,
    And without the names and faces
There's are cynical unsourced games.

 

Addendum of Being Literally Incapable:   "Maddow lawyer Theodore J. 'Ted' Boutrous Jr. argued that the liberal host was clearly offering up her 'own unique expression' of her views to capture what she saw as the 'ridiculous' nature of the undisputed facts. 'Her comment, therefore, is a quintessential statement ‘of rhetorical hyperbole, incapable of being proved true or false,' he said." In "Rachel Maddow Faces Slapdown by UC Linguistics Professor in Defamation Suit," by Ken Stone, Times of San Diego, 2 December 2019.

 

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Suitcase

 

"Three people have appeared in court in Zimbabwe, accused of stealing a suitcase containing $150,000 (£117,600) of cash from the country's ousted president, Robert Mugabe." In "Mugabe: Suitcase of cash stolen from ex-Zimbabwe leader," BBC, 10 January 2019.    ^{[ 1 ]}

 

Wouldn't you like a suitcase
Like the one a trio stole?
Politicians in most every place
Seem on quite a roll.

    Wouldn't you like a stash
    Like that which prime folk cache?
    Politicians in most every land
    Labor for their cash.

        Wouldn't you like a packet
        To lavishly lug about?
        Politicians in most every age
        Are rarely found without.

            Power seems to travel
            With pals that pay quite well,
            Even when their nation
            Fails in parallel.

 

Addendum of Suitcases Full of Cash:   "...'it was a huge surprise when we found the empty apartment and just the suitcases and boxes covered by a sheet,' Daniel Madruga, who coordinated the operation, told local television station Globo. Corruption has been an endemic problem in Brazil for centuries, but a massive investigation has unexplained piles of cash popping up around the country like never before. Believed to be the largest corruption case in modern history, the probe uncovered a complex scheme in which top business executives traded bribes for lucrative government contracts." In "Brazil’s top politicians are getting busted with literal suitcases full of cash," by Marina Lopes, Washington Post, 7 September 2017.

 

Addendum of a Money-Stuffed Suitcase:   "Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson, the star witness of the money-stuffed suitcase scandal which involves Argentine and Venezuelan officials, declared in a federal court in Miami that the plane in which he flew August 2007 to Buenos Aires was carrying a second suitcase with 4.2 million US dollars besides the 800.000 which were seized by Buenos Aires Customs." In "Suitcase scandal: where's the rest of the money?" Merco Press, 24 September 2008.

 

Addendum of Money-Bag Politics:   "The history of Nigerian politics is replete with money-bag politics. Although, there is hardly any country in the world where instances of bribery or political corruption are not present in their national politics, researches on Africa’s postcolonial history, have however shown that, in Africa, corruption is an institutionalized and a systemic practice affecting not only the postcolonial state itself, but also the majority of the citizenry. Using Nigeria, as a case study, this paper argues that since the 1964/1965 Western Region elections to the 2007 general elections, there has hardly been any election conducted in Nigeria without associated cases of corrupt practices such as vote buying, ballot snatching, election rigging, election violence, political and legislative lobbying etc." In "Money-Bag Politics, Rent-Seeking  ^{[ 2 ]}  And Flawed Elections In Nigeria: A Theoretical Statement," Derin Ologbenla, Waziri Babatunde Adisa, Journal of Public Administration and Governance, Vol. 2, No. 1 (2012). 

 

Addendum of Mexican Millions:    "Until Monday, the most prominent Mexican official accused of taking bribes was Genaro García Luna, the country’s former public security director. When Jesus Zambada testified in November, he told jurors that he had met twice with Mr. García Luna in a restaurant and both times gave him a briefcase stuffed with at least $3 million in cash." In " El Chapo Trial: Former Mexican President Peña Nieto Took $100 Million Bribe, Witness Says," by Alan Feuer, New York Times, 15 January 2019.

 

Addendum of Chuck's Turn:   "Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, the former prime minister of Qatar, bestowed the big bucks on the heir to the British throne in three deliveries during private, off-the-books meetings at Clarence House, the prince’s official London residence. He came toting stacks of bills totaling 3 million euros — about $3.2 million at today’s exchange rates — in duffel bags, a suitcase, and several branded shopping bags from the famed Fortnum & Mason department store. The payments were deposited into the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund (PWCF), a grant-making entity that quietly bankrolls the prince’s pet projects — and pays the bills at his Scottish country estate." In "Prince Charles took bags stuffed with millions in cash from controversial Qatari sheikh: report," by Mary Kay Linge, New York Post, 25 June 2022.

 

NOTES   [ 1 ]    Some details:  "Mr Mugabe, now 94, was forced out of office by Zimbabwe's military in 2017. Up to that point, he had been in power for 37 years, first as prime minister and later as president. Once famously claiming that a country could never go bankrupt, he was accused of enjoying a lavish lifestyle while presiding over Zimbabwe's economic collapse."   [ 2 ]   It should become obvious to all observers that the notion of rent-seeking by political avenues is endemic throughout government at every level around the world. By legal as well as illegal means, governors -- those who govern -- and legislators -- those who legislate -- feather their own nests first and foremost.           One only need a cursory survey of Corruption in the United States, and, in the parlance of this little world of rhyme, Corruption has a middle name , to see that Politics itself is the mechanism which so easily corrupts, as the feeding frenzy on the part of "leaders" in the public arena has defrauded citizens in every land and every age.

 

---

 

Double down on failure

Double down on failure; Why not fail twice? Triple down! Why not? Heed the worst advice.

Wager on a losing scheme; Roll those pesky dice. Dream that you cannot lose; Then pay the loser's price.

Double down yet again, For dreams smell oh so nice. Fail and then fail again; So goes it in a trice.

 

Addendum of Recent Support for a Failed State:    "...while many on the left are now keen to disavow any connection to the Venezuelan disaster, their earlier enthusiasm is on the record. Greg Grandin, writing in The Nation in 2013, offered a laudatory take on Chavez and suggested that Venezuela 'might be the most democratic country in the Western hemisphere.' (He also argued, oddly enough, that Chavez 'wasn’t authoritarian enough.') Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the U.K.’s Labour Party, has also been a big Chavez fan, while Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz praised Venezuela’s economic policies in 2007 and declared that the risks of higher inflation were overrated." In "Venezuela Isn’t Just a Failed State. It’s a Failure of the Left," by Tyler Cowen, Bloomberg Quint, 20 February 2019.

 

Addendum of Not Wanting to Look like Failure:   " 'He didn’t like the things we were asking him about the lack of democracy in Venezuela, about torture, political prisoners, the humanitarian crisis that they were living,' he said. But the breaking point came, Ramos said, after he showed Maduro a video of people eating from a garbage truck. 'Immediately after, one of his ministers, Jorge Rodríguez, came to tell us that the interview was not authorized,' Ramos said." In "Maduro detained journalists after they showed him video of people eating garbage, Univision says," by Reis Thebault, Michael Brice-Saddler and Eli Rosenberg, Washington Post, 26 February, 2019.

 

Consider when, in the New York Times parlance, what happens the the Left is  Left to their own devices

 

---

 

Martiniade - paraphrase of Joachim Ringelnatz

Who'd effervescent, festive evenings seek
Knows quite well, where off to sneak.
            Blow nose and dress up
            And ready pourboire.
            Mainz' thoroughfare's
            M a r t i n i   B a r.
There party the fine folk with drink all around;
Right and left toasts bright resound.
            With bubbly dress and drink,
            Oft rowdyish,
            Music the senses tease
            As one might wish.
The guests, oft well known, oft maybe not,
Are always an interesting lot.
            Who then at evening's end
            Cheers, waves his hat:
            'How fast does time fly by!
            How great was that!'

See:    Martiniade (2019) 

 

---

I used to read the New York Times
And do their crossword puzzle,
With Entemann's and Sundays' chimes
And coffee enough to guzzle.
            I used to read, front page to back,
            When windowed sunlight streamed,
            And lounge away some morning hours.
            I mused, and so daydreamed.

The corner vendor scratched a life
In that Amsterdam neighborhood;
Back then the Times was cheaper than
Today, and I understood...
            That time's a respecter of no man
            As tick tocks the ages by.
            I no longer read the New York Times
            And am quite another guy.

Subway tokens are keepsakes now,
And it's time for other folks.
Old memories are fleeting and
My errors age as jokes,
            My own, for I've learned to chuckle
            At how silly was I once,
            Though changed by time's meandering,
            I still can play the dunce.

 

---

 

No longer finding profits

"Their socialist governments have been in power since 1999, taking over the country at a time when Venezuela had huge inequality. But the socialist polices brought in which aimed to help the poor backfired. Take price controls, for example. They were introduced by President Chávez to make basic goods more affordable to the poor by capping the price of flour, cooking oil and toiletries. But this meant that the few Venezuelan businesses producing these items no longer found it profitable to make them." In "Venezuela crisis: How the political situation escalated," BBC, 24 January 2019.

No longer finding profits
                                    testifies to what's been found.
Socialist policies predictably
                                    ran the ship aground.
More goods for the poor
                                    means now the poor have less,
And that's the situation
                                    with socialism's economic guess.
No longer finding profits
                                    testifies that something's found.
Hyperinflation's inflating;
                                    again, socialism proves unsound.

 

Consider the historical demonstration of government control of economies when Left to their own devices

 

---

 

Heading down the same dark path

 

"While the world watches Venezuela's slow, cancerous death, Nicaragua is in full cardiac arrest. Since protests began on April 18, the government of President Daniel Ortega has been accused of using 'lethal force' and at least 146 people have died. Hundreds more are wounded or missing and the body of a U.S. citizen was found shot dead on June 2. Without international intervention, the collapse of my country could create a new cycle of war and destruction in this precarious region." In "Nicaragua Is Heading Down the Same Dark Path as Venezuela," by Margarita Herdocia, Time, 13 June 2018.    ^{[ 1 ]}

 

Heading down the same dark path,
Seeing near the coming wrath,
Those headstrong who lead that way
Are the same of whom advocates say
They're visionary seers of a coming world,
Of fealty's oaths and flags unfurled
Which lead again down that old dark path
Which leads to the same old aftermath.

 

"Free Nicaragua - Ortega assassin" graffiti in Berlin, 2019

 

Addendum of the Same Dark Path:   "In Nicaragua, armed supporters of President Daniel Ortega opened fire on a crowd of tens of thousands of anti-government protesters Wednesday, killing at least 11 people and wounding almost 80 others. Elsewhere in Nicaragua, another four were killed and scores more injured at demonstrations around the country—bringing the death toll in recent anti-Ortega protests to nearly 100." In "Nicaragua: 15 Killed as Tens of Thousands Demand President’s Ouster," Democracy Now, 1 June 2018.   ^{[ 2 ]}

 

Addendum of Socialist State Repression:   " 'Heavily armed pro-government groups remain at large, accompanied by police forces, committing joint attacks against the civilian population,' said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International. 'The message sent by the highest ranking Nicaraguan authorities is that they are willing to do anything to silence the voices of those who demonstrate against this violent repression. This situation is extremely serious and deserves strong condemnation from the international community'." In "Nicaragua: State repression has reached deplorable levels," Amnesty International, 9 July 2018.

 

Addendum of El Presidente on the Same Dark Path:   "...Ortega has demonstrated one skill, it is that of survival. He and his wife have dominated Nicaraguan political life for so long and amassed so much power that his departure is not a foregone conclusion. It is up to the United States and other regional democracies to hold Ortega to account and to support the Nicaraguan people in their effort to hasten a return to democratic order in Nicaragua. Given Ortega’s long history of authoritarianism and lust for power, we should make sure that he truly seeks a negotiated solution to the country’s current crisis and is not simply looking for a respite. We are seeing what the hemisphere’s failure to confront oppressors has brought in Venezuela." In "Daniel Ortega’s familiar path of repression in Nicaragua," by Otto J. Reich, Washington Post, 24 May 2018.

 

Addendum of an Opposing View:   "Once inside Congress, Bolsonaro and his vice president, retired Gen. Hamilton Mourao, took the oath of office. Bolsonaro then read a short speech that included many of the far-right positions he staked out during the campaign. He promised to combat the 'ideology of gender' teaching in schools, 'respect our Judeo-Christian tradition' and 'prepare children for the job market, not political militancy'. 'I call on all congressmen to help me rescue Brazil from corruption, criminality and ideological submission,' he said, earning a congratulatory message from Trump." In "Bolsonaro says Brazil 'liberated from Socialism' at inaugural ceremony," France 24, 1 January 2019. ^{[ 3 ]}

 

Addendum of the Caring Liberal Establishment:   "The response from the left to all this? Ignore it, make excuses, or attack President Trump for interfering. In fact, the biggest Venezuela protest in Washington was the 'Hands Off' march this spring, in which protestors attacked Trump for attempting regime change in the country. And when the press does report on Venezuela, it almost always leaves out one key detail: The fact that the profound misery is the direct result of the country’s embrace of socialist policies starting with Chavez and continuing with his hand-picked successor, Maduro. In fact, 93% of the stories that aired on network news from February 2018 through February 2019 never mentioned 'socialism' or 'socialist,' according to a Media Research Center analysis. The indifference shown by the liberal establishment to what’s happening in Venezuela is disgusting, but it’s also incredibly revealing. Human suffering matters, it seems, only when it suits the left’s ideological agenda." In "Venezuela: A Humanitarian Crisis The Left Couldn’t Care Less About," Editorial Board, Issues and Insights, 17 June 2019.

 

Addendum of Nicaraguan Nationalizing:   "Nicaragua’s National Assembly on Saturday approved nationalizing a major gas station company two days after the United States imposed sanctions on it for allegedly being used by President Daniel Ortega's family to finance and launder money for the government. The company, Distribuidor Nicaraguense de Petroleo (DNP), controls a third of the country's gas sales. The U.S. Treasury Department says it is owned or controlled by Ortega family members, and was bought with public money before being transferred to the family." In "Nicaragua nationalizes major gas station chain linked to Ortega," by Ismael Lopez, Reuters, 14 December 2019.

 

How it works to serve the Socialists -- National Eyes

 

NOTES   [ 1 ]    Herdocia writes further:   "Nicaragua has been quietly heading down this path for over a decade. Relative economic stability masked the slow accumulation of power by President Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo. As democratic institutions were dismantled by El Comandante’s regime, their cronies grew in wealth and the stage was set for an enduring Ortega dictatorship."   The Democrat Socialists Demand Fealty             The descriptive -- dictatorship -- tells much, as she reports:   "Nicaragua's Catholic bishops called the bloodshed an 'organized and systemic aggression'—but it has since worsened. The Mothers' Day massacre has been nationalized, and systematic kidnapping and torture has been added to the mix. Several employees and acquaintances have been brutally beaten by government thugs, while others have been abducted and tortured for refusing to pay fealty to the Sandinista party leadership."           It should be clarified that the Sandinista Party is yet another socialist party, as have been the Cuban and Venezuelan "revolutions," with each adopting a different path to the same violence and economic collapse.   [ 2 ]     Verbiage is important, for from 1985 until now, Ortega has ruled Nicaragua as president, currently 34 years in power for a single individual. Democratic elections as run by the Sandinista Party notwithstanding, Democracy Now as an organization speaking to issues of democracy reports on the brutality of "armed supporters."  Thus "democracy" does not seem to accurately describe the behavior of the Ortega regime, while it is the term used to portray the hoped-for optics of the same.   Democratic Socialist Political Party             One learns more of the verbiage:   "The Sandinista National Liberation Front (Spanish: Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) is a democratic socialist political party in Nicaragua. ... Following the resignation of centrist members from this Junta, the FSLN took exclusive power in March 1981. They instituted a policy of mass literacy, devoted significant resources to health care, and promoted gender equality but came under international criticism for human rights abuses, mass execution and oppression of indigenous peoples."In "Sandinista National Liberation Front," Wikipedia, n. d.           The promise of mass literacy was similar to Fidel Castro's, and yet one sees the end of a "same dark path" in Socialism's Last Hurrah - not democracy in any town. Looking behind the public optics at the outset of these various socialist revolutions, one reads of grand promises, and yet at the end game in such revolutions the outcome is corruption, violence and death enforced by fealty to a single party.           Of course the next incarnations of democratic socialists will disavow the proven outcomes of previous democratic socialist parties.  Yet one may look to the similarities between past democratic socialist parties, and especially how difficult to say I Shall Believe the Socialist .   [ 3 ]    A path may be followed in opposite directions. For those traveling in one, the traveler in the opposing direction is "opposing."           Thus, as one reads news and opinion from around the world, one often sees the editorial bias in reporting. But when one would "rescue Brazil from corruption, criminality and ideological submission" is deemed to be far right, then one must make reference to the failed Left and Right model, and choose a direction on a path.   Quo vadis?             The path of the far-Left may be seen in the above reporting about Nicaragua's "democratic socialist political party," and as such traveling in an opposing direction can be described as "far-right" in political positions, but when compared to the Old-fashioned "corruption, criminality and ideological submission" as reported by France 24 as "far-right" political stances, one must then ask is being for a Left being also for such corruption, criminality and ideological submission?" It is a question worth consideration, when the Nicaraguan Left is reported to be of "authoritarianism and lust for power."           How old fashioned yet widespread is that today?  Should governments' growing authoritarianism and lust for power over defenseless citizens be Left to their own devices .

 

 

---

 

Gecko Squashing

A father of some cats
 Asked you to kill a gecko
  With one swift stroke, or more,
   Earning points to echo
    Far beyond the squashing of that gecko.

A father to some felines
 Taught you to squash a lizard
  With all dispatch, most speedily;
   Be a lizard-killing wizard
   Who'd crush a fiery little lizard.

One swift stoke is better
 Than two or more, go-getter.
  That's now ancient law
   According to lore and letter
    Of a kitty-cats' tough task setter.

 

Envoi:  "Abu Huraira: He who kills a gecko with the first stroke..." The Book of Salutations and Greetings. Book 026, Number 5564.  ^{[ 1 ]}

 

Addendum from a Beginning:   "...the salamander, a mischief-doer." In "Beginning of Creation," Sahih al-Bukhari.

 

Addendum after an Addendum:   "...the salamander should be killed and said, 'It (i. e. the salamander) blew (the fire) on Abraham'." In "Prophets," Sahih al-Bukhari.

 

NOTE   [ 1 ]    The pseudonym foe the "narrator" refers to this:  "He was known by the kunyah [ honorific] Abu Hurayrah 'Father of a Kitten', in reference to his documented attachment to cats." In "Abu Hurairah," Wikipedia, n. d.

 

---

 

One can know when one has learned

Bad choices breed bad outcomes,
    As engineering tells.
Fresh follies fail foolishly;
    While science plain excels.
Asserting there is nothing bad
    Is to make the fatal choice.
Avowing that there are no sins
    Is to mute each still, small voice.
Tales begun tell outcomes
    And trajectories foretell their ends;
One can know when one has learned,
    When in learning then one bends.

 

Addendum of Foreboding:   "The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity." From "The Second Coming" William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

 

See:  Settings of William Butler Yeats' Three Magical Songs - (2005)  

Schisms  - they're about isms

It's 'I am Right, and you're so Wrong,'
    Says Bishop Sheikh in a rant quite long.
It's 'I've the Truth, while you've but Lies,'
    Says Rabbi Lama in a Rightful guise.
It's 'I know Best, while you know Worst,'
    Says each Politician who would be First
Above those Lessers who nothing know,
    Who are deemed Wrong, and Rightly so,
For Betters who know Worse, we see,
    Live each under some sworn Decree,
And even the Atheists' glowering glares
    Play joyously in the Game of Snares
Which sings with self-exalted Song,
    Its 'I am Right, while you're so Wrong.'
Rights declare other Rights as Wrong,
    Schismatically, and then erelong
The many Rights cannot agree
    Which is Right in which Holy See,
While the Lesser, gentler, quiet Folks
    Chuckle at the jolly Jokes - when
It's 'I am Right,' with aggressive Song,
    Proves other Rights must be truly Wrong.

This applies to both You and Me,

    For We are sure to Disagree.

 

Consider:   I have a little -ism  - sung to the tune of "I Have a Little Dreidel," original lyrics by Samuel S. Grossman and music by S. E. Goldfarb.

 

---

 

State-inflicted maladies

"Six-year-old Antonella was diagnosed with throat cancer four years ago, and her mother brings her to Domingo Luciani Hospital in Caracas as often as she can for chemotherapy. Today, however, it´s Antonella´s mom who is being treated -- for malnutrition, a state-inflicted malady that is sweeping across oil-rich Venezuela. Struggling to feed herself and her child, she fainted when she walked into the hospital where Antonella is slowly dying." In "No gloves or dressings: Inside the last pediatric surgical ward in Venezuela´s capital," by Vasco Cotovio and Luis Graham-Yoolli, CNN, 13 February 2019.

Someone stated something,
                    Stated it in a phrase;
A state-inflicted malady
                    Is a fiery phrase, set ablaze.

Someone stated clearly -
                    A malady from the state,
Of the state and by the state -
                    And stated it quite straight.

Someone stated outright
                    The state-bred malady,
And that is without question
                    The age-old tragedy.

 

Addendum of Venezuelan State-inflicted Malady:   "In many countries, extreme malnutrition 'can be caused when there is war, a drought, some sort of catastrophe or an earthquake,' said Dr. Ingrid Soto de Sanabria, the chief of the hospital’s nutrition, growth and development department. 'But in our country it is directly related to the shortages and inflation.' The Venezuelan government has tried to cover up the extent of the crisis by enforcing a near-total blackout of health statistics, and by creating a culture in which doctors are often afraid to register cases and deaths that may be associated with the government’s failures." In "As Venezuela Collapses, Children Are Dying of Hunger," by Meridith Kohut and Isayen Herrera, New York Times, 17 December 2017.

 

Addendum of the USSR's State-inflicted Malady:   "In June of 1933, at the height of the Holodomor, 28,000 men, women and children in Ukraine were dying of starvation each day. The land that was known worldwide as the breadbasket of Europe was being ravaged by a man-made famine of unprecedented scale. Stalin and his followers were determined to teach Ukraine’s farmers “a lesson they would not forget” for resisting collectivization, which meant giving up their own land to work on government controlled farms. Moreover, the famine was meant to deal 'a crushing blow' to any aspirations for independence from the Soviet Union by the Ukrainians, 80 percent of whom worked the land." In "Holomodor: The famine-genocide of Ukraine, 1932-1933," holomodor.org.

 

Addendum of Communist China's State-inflicted Malady:   "In late 1959, Chinese officials in the provinces began to investigate wild rumors that people were eating one another. Most of the officials must have already known that Mao Zedong’s call for a 'Great Leap Forward,' a planned modernization meant to catapult the country into global economic leadership, had gone horribly wrong. In the vast countryside regions of China, and with an eye to pleasing their bureaucratic masters, Communist Party functionaries had been inflating estimates of the amounts of food that peasants were producing for transfer to the industrial zones or for export sales. They also concealed that these transfers left hungry—and often for dead—the very peasants who had done all the farming, from cultivation to harvest." In "Totalitarianism, Famine and Us, by Samuel Moyn, Nation, 7 November 2012.

 

Addendum of North Korea's State-inflicted Malady:   "The economic and political system itself was a major problem during the famine in North Korea. By relying too much on central power (Pyongyang) to make choices, the decision-making process was way too slow for the crisis. The soviet-style state farms too proved to be a huge obstacle as they weren't adapted to each local crisis and the tailored response that was needed. Allowing people to grow their own food in a reasonably sized back-garden would have been a lot more helpful. In reality, they did allow small scale agriculture in private gardens but tons of contradicting policies (expansion of state farms, intensive agriculture) were plenty enough to thwart this little but crucial change." In "Famine in North Korea: The Impact of Poor Decisions," Poverties, 2 December 2012.

 

Addendum of Bengal's State-inflicted Malady:   "The provincial government's policy failures began with denial that a famine existed. Humanitarian aid was ineffective through the worst months of the food crisis, and the government never formally declared a state of famine. It first attempted to influence the price of rice paddy (unmilled rice) through price controls. These measures created a black market and encouraged sellers to withhold stocks. Hyperinflation resulted from speculation and hoarding after controls were abandoned. Aid increased significantly when the Indian Army took control of aid in October 1943, but effective relief arrived only after a record rice harvest that December." In "Bengal famine of 1943," Wikipedia, n. d.

 

Addendum of Somalia's State-inflicted Malady:   "The crisis was caused by a severe drought, worsened by conflict between rival groups fighting for power. The number of deaths was higher than the estimated 220,000 people who died during the 1992 famine." In "Somalia famine 'killed 260,000 people'," BBC, 2 May 2013.

 

Addendum of South Sudan's State-inflicted Malady:   "The maxim is true that famine does not result from purely natural causes but is usually 'man-made.' Such a description, however, avoids any real accountability for those who have caused the crisis. South Sudan’s famine would be more accurately described as 'government-made'." In "South Sudan’s government-made famine," by George Clooney and John Prendergast, Washington Post, 9 March 2019.

 

Addendum of Governments Failing Their Own People:   "... political scientist Alex de Waal calls famine a political scandal, a 'catastrophic breakdown in government capacity or willingness to do what [is] known to be necessary to prevent famine.' When governments fail to prevent or end conflict, or help families prevent food shortages brought on by any reason, they fail their own people." In "What is famine, and how can we stop it?" by Chris Hufstader, Oxfam, 20 November 2018.

 

Addendum of Oregon's State-inflicted Malady:   "...Oregon’s land-use rules have been dysfunctional for decades. In the 1970s lawmakers worried about sprawl imposed strict limits on urban expansion. These urban growth boundaries have failed to adjust sufficiently to growing populations, choking residential development despite high demand. Rising housing prices are the inevitable result of this government-imposed scarcity. Portland is now desperate for affordable housing and says it’s at least 23,000 units short. But its policies discourage investment in housing for low- and middle-income families. Its land-use zoning is more restrictive than more than three-fourths of other metropolitan areas examined in a new working paper by Harvard and University of Pennsylvania researchers. Since 2017 Portland has enforced an 'inclusionary zoning'” requirement on new residential buildings with 20 or more units. The city now compels many landlords to rent up to a fifth of new units at below-market rates." In "The Housing Shortage in Profile: Construction in Oregon dropped to the lowest level since World War II," Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal, January 2020.

 

---

 

Manhattan dance party

Come on in, and go away.
We're all alike, but not today.
Welcome, friend, now get lost.
Progress backwards, while crisscrossed.
Try to tax in absentia;
Evidence a party's dementia.

Get the hell out, but wait, cry whoa!
You're a fine ally as enemies go.
Welcome, comrade, to the fight,
You against me, an unwelcoming sight.
Let's pry open a wallet which
Is somewhere else? Now that is rich!

Alienate friends, for that's the dance.
I'm just like you, except my stance.
Welcome, loser, mistaken fool,
For we've become the opposition's tool.
Try to balance unbalanced books
With dancing feet on tenterhooks.

 

 

Addendum of Progressive Mistakes:   "In an interview on 'The Brian Lehrer Show,' the mayor, in response to Ocasio-Cortez’s reaction to the Amazon pullout, called her gloating a mistake. 'I came up watching the mistakes of progressives of the past, unfortunately what happened in this city when it almost went to bankruptcy in the 1970s,' de Blasio said. 'I saw all the times progressives did not show people effective governance and all the times progressives made the kinds of mistakes that alienated working people'." In "Progressives de Blasio and Ocasio-Cortez at war of words over Amazon pullout," by Leonard Greene, NY Daily News, 15 February 2019.  ^{[ 1 ]}

 

Addendum of Showing Off for the Cameras:   "No one was as vocal in trying to make the corporate giant go away as socialist superstar Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. She lambasted the company's 'creeping overreach.' And in a way, she was taking the same side we had. But we had been arguing on behalf of taxpayers all over New York state, who were being held hostage so that Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, both Democrats, could show off for the cameras. Ocasio-Cortez, on the other hand, was arguing against the economic development of a region of Queens that abuts her congressional district. Along with fellow naysayers such as state Sen. Mike Gianaris, D-Queens, she attacked Amazon for bringing in too many jobs, potentially creating higher standards of living in the area and perhaps also inflating housing costs. It is odd indeed for the direct beneficiaries of corporate welfare to complain." In "Amazon calls the socialists' bluff," Staff, Washington Examiner, 15 February 2019.   ^{[ 2 ]}

 

Addendum of NY Democrats Against NY Democrats:   "...after Amazon walked away in an anti-Valentine to the city on Feb. 14, AOC bragged on Twitter that 'everyday New Yorkers & their neighbors defeated Amazon’s corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world.' Huh? A Siena poll this week showed that New York City residents approved of the deal by 56 to 33 percent. Fellow Democrats Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio were pushing hard for the deal. Oh, and it need hardly be stated that Amazon is a company staffed by Democrats. Some 87 percent of its employee donations went to the Dems in the latest elections. As for 'richest man in the world,' Bezos started Amazon in his garage. He got rich building one of the most beloved companies on earth." In "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is destroying opportunity for fellow Democrats," by Kyle Smith, New York post, 16 February 2019.

 

Consider New York's Dancing Tine:   Hymn for Today

 

NOTES   [ 1 ]   The term, progressive, is a slippery one.  Of it and of himself, the mayor of New York writes:  "I am a lifelong progressive who sees the problem of growing income and wealth inequality." In "Bill de Blasio: The Path Amazon Rejected," Bill de Blasio, New York Times, 17 February 2019.          Growing income, as a word phrase, may be seen in Di Blasio's salary. One reads:   "Mayor de Blasio will get a fat 15 percent raise when his second term begins Monday – bumping his salary from $225,000 to $258,750 a year. The $33,750 boost is more than the annual salary of a full-time worker making the city’s roughly $13 minimum wage." In "De Blasio will get a pay raise when second term begins," by Anna Sanders, NY Post, 30 December 2017.          One may well consider issues of Income Inequality . in which many liberals and progressives preach concerns of "the problem of growing income and wealth inequality" while participating in it. While de Blasio's "modest" $258,750 a year income is tiny compared to Bezos as head of Amazon, the New York Post correctly notices that de Blasio's salary is "more than the annual salary of a full-time worker" at the bottom end of New York's working class. So which is it? One sees that a politician usually enjoys "growing income and wealth inequality" through the practice of Politics , and often in a most progressive, even "lifelong" way.   [ 2 ]  Ah, complaints. One reads:  "...Amazon appeared unprepared for the level of vocal opposition in Queens, where the company's plans were slated near the district that elected Amazon critic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Congress. The deal with Amazon was largely negotiated by Mayor de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who famously joked about changing his name to "Amazon Cuomo" to win the second headquarters." In "Amazon Drops Plans For New York Headquarters," by Alina Selyukh, NPR, 14 February 2019.          As complaints about Amazon's decision fly in parallel with complaints from progressives about progressives, one voice observed:  " 'I think everybody miscalculated here,' said Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. Amazon 'believed that they were doing New York such a big favor by bringing tech jobs and then all the ancillary jobs that they thought that the protests would not be as strong as they were,' Gordon said. And, instead of working out a deal, the opposition 'basically punched Amazon in the face in public,' he said."          And everyone says "ouch."  "We're all alike, but not today."          Because:  "Democrats are fighting mad -- at each other. For once, President Trump is not the prime target of their rage. Amazon’s decision to scrap plans for an HQ2 campus in New York sent the circular firing squad into action." In "Democrats are tearing themselves apart over Amazon," by Michael Goodwin, NY Post, 17 February 2019.

 

---

 

You'll tell me who you are

Tell me who it is you name
    to be your dearest friend;
You'll tell then who you are.
    That's your tale. The end.

 

---

 

To create and animate - rhymed paraphrase of a text by Goethe

Hans Adam was but a lump of clay
God molded into a man,
As if dropped out of a mother's womb
To be finished by His plan.

So Elohim puffed into his nose
With a spiritual sort of blast,
But there remained more to do
Once the sneezing was fully past.

Bones and limbs and head and yet
Hans Adam was not done;
It took until Noah and a rain of drops
To fill a tankard for such fun.

Breathing clay turned drinking man
Is God's gift of alcohol,
The same as ferments with lively yeast
Man's daily bread and all.

So, Hafiz, sing a noble song
That a drunkard might make merry,
And lead us into temptation's shrine
With much of our Creator's sherry!

See:     Erschaffen und beleben  (2019) 

 

---

 

Hedonism -- clarified

He done ism;
She done too.
They done ism,
Through and through.

Live for now,
Doctrine heir;
That's all there is,
And then? Nowhere.

 

---

 

If one traffics in rumors

If one traffics in rumors,
                        One is likely to get run down.
If one peddles a slew of lies,
                        Truth still will come to town.
If one relies on gossiping wags,
                        In innuendos one will drown.
If one would be a king of fools,
                        We're sure to see that crown.

 

Addendum of Traffic:   "The most-turned-to platform for news was, unsurprisingly, social media, with 45 percent of Americans saying they find news there daily. 'That a significant number of people polled say they rely on social media — daily and weekly — for their news, and in equally large numbers say they worry about accuracy of news they get from social media, reflects how brands such as Facebook have hurt the news consumption ecosystem, not just in siphoning off revenue but simultaneously helping erode trust with poorly designed and terribly managed platforms,' notes Raju Narisetti, a former News Corp. executive who is now a professor at Columbia University School of Journalism." In "Americans Think All Network News Channels Lean Liberal, Poll Finds," by Erik Hayden, Hollywood Reporter, 9 April 2019.   ^{[ 1 ]}

 

Addendum of Growing Distrust:   " 'Before 2004, it was common for a majority of Americans to profess at least some trust in the mass media, but since then, less than half of Americans feel that way,' the spokesman said. 'Now, only about a third of the U.S. has any trust in the Fourth Estate, a stunning development for an institution designed to inform the public'." In "Distrust of Media at Highest Level Ever," by Kenneth T. Walsh, US News and World Report, 15 September 2016.

 

Addendum of What's Unfair:   "Beyond the headlines, the news from the 28-country survey, the Edelman trust barometer, is not good. Of the respondents, 66% said the media is more concerned with attracting a big audience than reporting; 65% said they believed outlets sacrifice accuracy to be the first to break a story; and 59% said the media prioritised supporting an ideology over informing the public. The reflexive response of most media outlets – and their leaders – on hearing statistics like this is to go on to the defensive, to say the criticism is unfair or exaggerated, and to highlight the best bits of their reporting as a counter to the unflattering figures." In "Distrust of social media is dragging traditional journalism down," by James Ball, Guardian UK, 22 January 2018.   ^{[ 2 ]}

 

Addendum of a Realization:   "The polls were wrong. The pundits were wrong. The party insiders were wrong. The bookies were wrong. I was wrong. Even Burt the psychic croc was wrong." In "What the Bloody Hell Just Happened in Australia?" by Rachel Withers, Slate, 22 May 2019.

 

NOTES   [ 1 ]    The Hollywood Reporter added:   "The poll confirms the disturbing but not surprising fact that our polarized public discourse has eroded trust in mainstream journalism. The most striking exception is local news," notes Andrew Heyward, formerly the president of CBS News and currently at ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. He adds, "That's why it's so important to shore up the dismal economics of local print and digital journalism and reinvent local TV news for the next generation of news consumers."   [ 2 ]    That the Guardian tells of media outlets and their leaders crying "unfair," an earlier Guardian article reported the polling:  "Judged on hard metrics, confidence in UK media has fallen noticeably in recent years. According to communications agency Edelman’s 2017 Trust Barometer survey of 1,500 Britons, the number of people who said they trusted British news outlets at all fell from an already low 36% in 2015 to a mere 24% by the beginning of 2017. The 2017 Digital News Report from the Reuters Institute, published in June, found that just 41% of British people agreed that the news media did a good job in helping them distinguish fact from fiction. The figure for social media was even lower: 18%." In "Can you trust the mainstream media?" by Andrew Harrison, Guardian UK, 6 August 2017.           It becomes an interesting question, as it has each cycle in the historical past. The 2017 article's end advised:  "The mainstream media's job is to remind the audiences of tomorrow of that fact. Trust isn’t given. It's earned. And if there's one basic truth that every storyteller understands, it’s that if you want to be believed, don’t tell – show."           It is not a matter of a public being "unfair" to media, but of a media which has seemingly lost the trust of the public. "Trust isn't given. It's earned."

 

---

 

Judas goat

The steer follows the judas goat
While dreaming of green fields,
Into a steaming slaughterhouse
And the slaughter that it yields.
Such is the way of this world
Which lures with friendly bleat
The unsuspecting and the ripe
With planned and plain deceit.
The steer follows the judas goat,
Which tells: we might well steer clear
Of those alluring, luring goats
Which are not as they appear.

---

 

Trendy Wendy covers up

"Rejecting the argument that visitors should wear the hijab out of 'respect for the culture of Iran', she said they were 'sending a message that men are more equal than women'. Ms Alinejad, the founder of the White Wednesdays movement which saw many women remove their headscarves in protest, said she was battling against a 'discriminatory law'. It will be difficult for Western women who wore hijab on Hijab Day, at the Women’s March, or in NZ to watch this and not feel shame." In "Iranian women's rights activist condemns Western feminists for wearing the hijab in 'solidarity', saying: 'Calling the compulsory headscarf my country's culture is INSULTING'," by Tim Stickings, Mail Online, 1 April 2019.

 

Trendy Wendy covers up
                In silly solidarity
With those who allow no choice in dress
According to men's muscularity.

Fretty Betty covers up
                To wear relative respect
For those who demand the cover up,
And prove each gal is circumspect.

Hairy Mary hides her hair
                For that may too entice
The ones who demand she cover it,
Else she must pay their price.

Natty Patty's so Germaine
                To sometimes cover much
And other times not to
In her wavering stance and such.

When in Rome, so it's said,
                And when the sword is raised,
And when sometimes is always,
For when the risk's appraised,

Then do Hades' ladies   ^{[ 1 ]}
                Don scarf and sack cloth's stuff,
But only sometimes, somewhere;
For some it's quite enough.

 

 

Addendum of Protests Against a Compulsory Hijab:   "Protests against the requirement that women cover their hair with the Islamic veil, or hijab, picked up pace earlier this week in Tehran and other cities. Witness accounts and social media videos indicate that more than two dozen women have doffed their scarves in public and waved them on sticks, like flags. Protests against the requirement that women cover their hair with the Islamic veil, or hijab, picked up pace earlier this week in Tehran and other cities. Witness accounts and social media videos indicate that more than two dozen women have doffed their scarves in public and waved them on sticks, like flags." In "Iran Arrests 29 Linked to Protests Against Compulsory Hijab," by Thomas Erdbrink and Richard Pérez-Peña, New York Times, 2 February 2018.

 

 

Addendum of a Compulsory Islamic Dress Code:   "Before the Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979 (during the reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran), the hijab was not compulsory, though some Iranian women during this period wore headscarfs or chador. After the 1979 Islamic revolution, the hijab gradually became compulsory. In 1979, Ruhollah Khomeini announced that women should observe Islamic dress code; His statement sparked demonstrations, which were met by government assurances that the statement was only a recommendation. Hijab was subsequently made mandatory in government and public offices in 1980, and in 1983 it became mandatory for all women." In "2017–19 Iranian protests against compulsory hjab," Wikipedia, n. d.   ^{[ 2 ]}

 

Addendum of a One-day Voluntary Hijab:    "February 1st, 2013, marked the first annual World Hijab Day (WHD) in recognition of millions of Muslim women who choose to wear the hijab and live a life of modesty. The brainchild of this movement is a New York resident, Nazma Khan, who came up with the idea as a means to foster religious tolerance and understanding by inviting women (non-Hijabi Muslims/non-Muslims) to experience the hijab for one day." In "About Us," worldhijabday.com, n. d.   ^{[ 3 ]}

 

Addendum of a Deadly Non-voluntary Hijab:   "Aqsa 'Axa' Parvez (April 22, 1991 – December 10, 2007) was the victim of a murder in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. During the murder trial, Superior Court Justice Bruce Durno acknowledged the slaying as an honour killing, stating, that he found it 'profoundly disturbing that a 16-year-old could be murdered by a father and brother for the purpose of saving family pride, for saving them from what they perceived as family embarrassment'.' Aqsa's brother, Waqas, had strangled her when she chose to not wear a hijab." In Murder of Aqsa Parvez," Wikipedia, n. d.

 

Addendum of the Hijab in the Military:   "Valdovinos claims her hair was tied up under the hijab. The under-cap has an extra length of fabric inside, she explained, that she wraps around her bun to secure it before pulling the cap down. That's why her hair came loose when she removed it, she said. It was the first time since receiving her waiver that the soldier had ever been confronted about her hijab, she said. But not the first she felt targeted as a Muslim in the Army. In an Equal Opportunity complaint filed on March 7, she said, she described her first sergeant referring to her as 'the girl with the hood.' A culinary specialist, she said, she was recently reassigned from an on-post dining facility to her battalion's headquarters company after objecting to cooking pork products." In "A Muslim soldier says her command sergeant major forced her to remove her hijab," by Meghann Myers, Army Times, 12 March 2019.   ^{[ 4 ]}

 

Addendum of No Hijab in the Military:    " The fighters that ISIS fears the most wear lipstick, according to these troops. Some even let their long, braided hair fall out behind their hats. They are the female members of the Zeravani unit, a branch of the Kurdish peshmerga. The typically female attributes shouldn't detract from the fact that these women are prepared to defend their land from any invader, including ISIS." In "Women at War: Meet the Female Peshmerga Fighters Taking on ISIS," by Elizabeth McLaughlin, ABC News, 16 May 2016.   ^{[ 5  ]}

 

Addendum of Requiring the Veil:   "Covered from head to toe in black, she said she often admonishes other camp residents for failing to dress conservatively or for neglecting their prayers. In the Islamic State, 'they told us what was right and what was wrong. It was better,' she said. 'Here, people wear whatever they want'." In " True ISIS believers regroup inside refugee camp, terrorize the 'impious'," by Erin Cunningham, 19 April 2019.   ^{[ 6 ]}

 

Addendum of Making Noise:   "...in some Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Malaysia, some of the laws said to be derived from Islam that are used against women are not from Islam at all. And outside of the law, people's own ways of thinking need to change. Some Muslims seem unable to live and embrace the rich diversity within the Muslim communities. Instead, Sunnis kill Shias and vice versa. Or Muslims from the Middle East think they're more authentic than Muslims from India and vice versa. This issue of authenticity makes it so that many Muslims feel unwelcome in their own Muslim communities. 'Maybe I'm too Americanised to be considered Muslim? If I don't cover, they'll say I'm not Muslim.' That needs to change." In "Muslim women make some noise," by V. M., Economist, 19 April 2013.     ^{[ 7 ]}

 

Addendum of Modern Turkish Women as Enemies:   "The headlines follow comments by Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday, who accused women who participated in Friday’s International Women’s Day march in Istanbul of being disrespectful to Islam, labelling them enemies of the Islamic call to prayer and the Turkish flag." In "Turkish newspapers label Women’s Day marchers enemies," Ahval, 11 March 2019.   ^{[ 8 ]}

 

Addendum of Meeting Ethnocentrism in the Mosque:   "Every time I wrapped the hijab around my burgeoning curls, I felt that I was covering the gorgeous black self I had just discovered, and letting the ethnocentrism I had run up against so many times in the mosque win the upper hand. Eventually, I stopped wearing the hijab. I put my hair in dreadlocks and have never taken them out, and I show my blackness proudly to the world. Ultimately, uncovering led me to a deeper love of blackness than I'd previously known." In " 'I show my blackness proudly to the world'," by Jacinda Townsend, in a larger article, "What the hijab means to me," Al Jazeera, 29 November 2016.

 

Addendum of Asking God:   "The ones who are not covered, now I ask God in the next life to light the fires of hell with their hair!" In "" 'We Pray For The Caliphate To Return': ISIS Families Crowd Into Syrian Camps," by Jane Arraf, NPR, 19 April 2019.

 

Captured Islamic State women on trial in Iraq

 

Addendum of Coercion by the Taliban:   "She was wearing a burqa without mesh covering her face. 'Women in our area have no identity and they are considered incomplete without men. Sometimes men are not available and many women died in the remote areas as they were unable to reach hospital,' she said. The increase in the lashings of women comes as the group officially tries to appear more inclusive of women, recently announcing it was including dozens of women in their peace talks delegation." In "'I lost consciousness': woman whipped by the Taliban over burqa without veil," by Haroon Janjua, Guardian UK, 18 April 2019.

 

Addendum of Iranian Coercion:   "According to Iranian journalist and activist Masih Alinejad she was set upon because her head was uncovered and she was dancing. The victim can be heard shrieking throughout the footage as men laugh in the background." In "Shocking moment Iranian woman is dragged across the street and beaten as crowd cheers - because she was dancing in public and did not wear a hijab," by Ross Ibbetson, Mail Online, 16 June 2019.

 

Addendum of Dehijabbing:    "Latheefa Koya, executive director of Lawyers for Liberty, said women in Malaysia should not be investigated for discussing their religious choices. 'It does not mean those who attended the forum would lose their faith,' she said. 'Let a woman think freely and choose whether they want to wear the hijab or not'." In "Malaysia investigates women who discussed their 'dehijabbing'," by Hannah Ellis-Petersen, Guardian UK, 18 April 2019.

 

Addendum of the Plot of the Enemy:   " 'The more women dress in an openly sexual way, the less we'll have social peace, while facing a higher crime rate,' Minoo Aslani, head of the women's branch of the paramilitary Basij group, told a rally last week. Another gathering was attended by several thousand women in chadors. One held up a sign reading, 'The voluntary hijab is a plot by the enemy.' Reformist lawmaker Parvaneh Salahshouri said coercion does not work. 'What we see is that the morality police have been a failure,' said Salahshouri, who wears a headscarf out of religious belief." In "Some Iranian women take off hijabs as hard-liners push back," by Karin Laub and Mohammad Nasiri, Associated Press, 15 July 2019.

 

Addendum of the Iranian Hard-line:    "Monireh Arabshahi, Yasamin Aryani, and Mojgan Keshavarz, three women who have been held in Iranian custody since April of this year for 'disrespecting compulsory hijab,' have been sentenced by the Iranian Revolutionary Court to prison terms of at least 16 years each for disobeying the country's Islamic dress code. The women were each given five years on charges of 'assembly and collusion to act against national security,' one year for circulating 'propaganda against the regime' and ten years for 'encouraging and preparing the grounds for corruption and prostitution.' In addition, Keshavarz received another seven-and-a-half years for 'insulting the sanctities' - a total of 55 years and six months." In "Iran gives three women 55 years in prison for defying Islamic dress code," by Zachary Keyser, Jerusalem Post, 4 August 2019.

 

Addendum of Western Arrogance and Naiveté:    " 'Western democracies are suffering from a toxic mix of arrogance and naiveté that makes them complacent,' said Mohammed, who highlighted this challenge only days after an eruption between Israel and the American Left over a proposed visit to the Jewish state by pro-BDS representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. 'They underestimate the power of Islam, they look at what Islamists have done in other countries and they arrogantly think: 'That won’t happen to us' – even though it is happening right under their noses.' At the heart of this naiveté is a disturbing alliance between Islam and the Left, she said, a toxic partnership that sees high-ranking officials embracing Muslim traditions with 'gestures' such as Hijab Day."   In "Ex-Muslim to ‘Post’: Trying to teach ‘naive West’ about true nature of Islam," by Hannah Gal, Jerusalem Post, 19 August 2019.    ^{[ 9 ]}

 

Addendum of Wearing What You Are Told to Wear:   " 'I am one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran with whom they have been playing for years,' the 21-year-old wrote. 'I wore whatever they told me to wear,' she said, referring to the Islamic veil, which is compulsory for all women in public in Iran. 'I repeated everything they told me to say,' she wrote. She continued: 'None of us matter to them'.'" In "Iranian anti-regime protests enter third day after Tehran admits it DID shoot down passenger jet - as singer and film director back protesters and two state TV hosts quit over military 'lies'," by Tim Stickings, Mail Online, 13 January 2020.

 

NOTES   [ 1 ]     "Narrated Usama: The Prophet said, "I stood at the gate of Paradise and saw that the majority of the people who entered it were the poor, while the wealthy were stopped at the gate (for the accounts). But the companions of the Fire were ordered to be taken to the Fire. Then I stood at the gate of the Fire and saw that the majority of those who entered it were women." Sahih al-Bukhari Vol. 7, Book 62, Hadith 124.           Apologia for this sentiment covers a range from Muhammad not meaning what he said, to a complete "solidarity" with it. Nonetheless, it is a statement by a man, narrated by another man, and recorded by yet another man, such that the feminists might want to consider what sort of "privilege" this might entail, viewed in an age of feminism.   Women as the Majority?             But as to women, one reads more:   "Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri: Once Allah's Apostle went out to the Musalla (to offer the prayer) o 'Id-al-Adha or Al-Fitr prayer. Then he passed by the women and said, 'O women! Give alms, as I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-fire were you (women).' They asked, 'Why is it so, O Allah's Apostle ?' He replied, 'You curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you. A cautious sensible man could be led astray by some of you.' The women asked, 'O Allah's Apostle! What is deficient in our intelligence and religion?' He said, 'Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?' They replied in the affirmative. He said, 'This is the deficiency in her intelligence'." Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 6, Hadith 301.   Most Are Fuel of Hell?             Further, one reads:   "It was narrated that Jabir said: 'I attended the prayer with the Messenger of Allah (*) on the day of 'Eid. He started with the prayer before the Khutbah, with no Adhan and no Iqamah. When he finished the prayer, he stood leaning on Bilal, and he praised and glorified Allah (*) and exhorted the people, reminding them and urging them to obey Allah (*). Then he moved away and went to the women, and Bilal was with him. He commanded them to fear Allah (*) and exhorted them and reminded them. He praised and glorified Allah, then he urged them to obey Allah, then he said: 'Give charity, for most of you are the fuel of Hell.' A lowly woman with dark cheeks said: 'Why, O Messenger of Allah?' He said: 'You complain a great deal and are ungrateful to your husbands.' They started taking off their necklaces, earrings and rings, throwing them into Bilal's garment, giving them in charity." Sunan an-Nasa'i 1575, Vol. 2, Book 19, Hadith 1576.           One might cite verbatim the Koran requirement for covering the Fuel of Hell:   "O Prophet, enjoin your wives and your daughters and the believing women, to draw a part of their outer coverings around them. It is likelier that they will be recognized and not molested." (33:59)           Of this, one commentary reads:  "...the act of the woman who appears before the other then attractively itself shows what motivates her behavior. That is why the mischievous people cherish the same hopes from her as can be cherished from such a woman. The Quran tells the women: 'You cannot be chaste women and society women at one and the same time. If you want to live as modest, chaste women, you will have to give up the ways that are conducive to becoming society women only, and adopt the way of life that can be helpful in becoming chaste women'."           And yet one reads of molestation of a veiled young woman who is murdered for reporting the molestation to police, with the burka a part of the story as perpetrators used it was masking.  "The case sparked mass protests in Bangladesh and shone a spotlight on the vulnerability of victims of sexual assault and harassment in the country. Ms Rafi filed a police complaint against Mr Doula in late March and he was arrested. On 6 April she attended the school to sit her final exams when she was allegedly lured to the roof of the school and set alight by a group of people wearing burkas, a one-piece veil that covers the face and body. They had planned to make it look like a suicide, police said, but Ms Rafi - who suffered burns to 80% of her body - was able to give a statement before she died on 10 April." In "Nusrat Jahan Rafi: 16 charged in Bangladesh for burning girl alive," BBC, 29 May 2019.   A Mission to 'Expose' Islam?             But as to Islam and/versus feminism, one reads a single voice among many:   "...one cannot hide the 'controversial' ayat, hadith, turath, etc., from the masses indefinitely. People will find out primarily because atheists and liberal activists alike are on a mission to 'expose' Islam and are pushing these traditions into the spotlight. As the Muslim masses discover this information, they will feel deeply confused, deeply betrayed, and will leave Islam in droves. This process is already well underway. Simply peruse the prominent Muslim feminist social media outlets and the websites dedicated to Muslim women’s issues to see the rising antagonism and furor against orthodox Islam. Rather than give feminism carte blanche to wreak havoc on the umma, we must redouble our efforts to critique and deconstruct feminism on an intellectual and academic basis. Providing such critiques is beyond the scope of this brief essay but are forthcoming inshaAllah. In the end, dismantling feminism will afford Muslims with the intellectual and emotional room to properly understand gender and gender relations in Islam and to see how far superior in terms of justice and mercy it is to what feminism has to offer." In "The Grave Implications of 'Feminist Islam'," by Daniel Haqiqatjou, The Muslim Skeptic," 19 September 2017.   Exposing a Male Member?             Deconstruct feminism? Expose Islam? As to issues of women and men, one might merely cite a sourced Islamic source:  "It was narrated from Abu Umamah that the Messenger of Allah (*) said: 'There is no one whom Allah will admit to Paradise but Allah will marry him to seventy-two wives, two from houris and seventy from his inheritance from the people of Hell, all of whom will have desirable front passages and he will have a male member that never becomes flaccid (i.e., soft and limp)'." In "Sunan Ibn Majah," Vol. 5, Book 37, Hadith 4337.           So covering up a woman aims to enforce chaste behavior, while the dream of devout men is to uncover "a male member that never becomes flaccid" to act in a "chaste" manner with seventy-two wives, seventy of them  "from the people of hell?"           One wonders whether such citations, under the topic of the hijab in Islam should be viewed as supporting feminism or an exposure of Islam, as a supposed "Muslim Skeptic" suggests above. One might then inquire from such a tradition whether the "seventy from his inheritance from the people of Hell" would be women, in which case Hell would not be filled with a majority of women for being imported into "paradise" for the "male member that never becomes flaccid." Something here seems amiss, in terms of mere arithmetic.   Solidarity With Which Cause?  Man Date the Veil             One finds as counterpoint to Haqiqatjou:   "In 2014, Iranian political journalist Masih Alinejad created a Facebook page asking women to share photos of themselves standing in public places with their hair completely exposed. In an interview with Radio National last year, Ms Alinejad said the My Stealthy Freedom page was one of the only avenues through which women could speak out. 'In Iran there are millions of women who are forced to wear hijab, but the only way they can say no to compulsory hijab is through social media,' she said. ...But in recent weeks, the campaign has changed tack, with men now posting photos of themselves wearing the hijab to show solidarity with the cause." In "#MenInHijab: Iranian men don headscarf to challenge strict veil law," by Alle McMahon and Megan Mackander, ABC Australia, 2 August 2016.                  Humorously then, Nazma Khan cited above gets her "hijab day," but now Muslim men will "experience" it too in "solidarity" with Muslim women, some of whom are forced to wear this garment as, in Khan's assertion" to assert "a life of modesty."            From another report:  "Her reasons for launching the Facebook project, 'Wearing Hijab in Solidarity with Women,' which kicked off on November 1, are similar. She says she started the project because 'many people deny that the hijab discriminates between women and men.' A statement posted on the group's Arabic-language Facebook page before the page was removed said that "Those who call on women to wear hijab should not attack men if they chose to wear the hijab" and calls on men to upload their photos. Such a move is almost guaranteed to stigmatize them in Egyptian society, which remains highly traditional. Violations against women are also hugely underreported in the country -- a report by Egypt's National Council for Women from 2003 found as many as 98 percent of rape and sexual assault cases are not reported to authorities." In "Egypt's 'Naked Blogger' Calls On Men To Wear Hijab," by Kristin Deasy, RFE/RL, 25 November 2011.           Some seem to be heading towards that "gate of the Fire."  The majority of women? Feminists? Those who "will leave Islam in droves?" What of each Trendy Wendy in her one-day hijab?           And yet asking to remove a veil can threaten a physician's career in the UK, as one reads:   " 'It is of utmost importance that the religious wishes of our patients are respected,' a spokesperson added. 'However, evidently there are some circumstances where removal of a niqab or burqa is necessary for medical assessment and treatment'." In "More than 60,000 sign petition to stop doctor getting sacked for asking Muslim patient to remove veil," by Josh Payne and Peter Stubley, Independent UK, 26 May 2019.   [ 2 ]     The article notes:   "Iran is the only country in the world that requires non-Muslim women to wear a headscarf. For example, in January 2018, a Chinese female musician was forcibly veiled in the middle of her concert performance."   A Majority Right to Choose?             In a broad survey of the veil and generally in contradistinction to Iran's compulsory code, one reads:  "Muslims in many of the countries surveyed generally favor a woman’s right to choose whether to wear a veil in public. This view is especially prevalent in Southern and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Southeast Asia, including at least nine-in-ten Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina (92%), Kosovo (91%) and Turkey (90%). There is less agreement among Muslims in the Middle East-North Africa region and South Asia. While more than eight-in-ten Muslims in Tunisia (89%) and Morocco (85%) say women should have the right to choose whether they wear a veil, fewer than half in Egypt (46%), Jordan (45%), Iraq (45%) and Afghanistan (30%) say the same. Sub-Saharan Africa is the one region surveyed where most Muslims do not think women should have the right to decide if they wear a veil. The only country in the region where a majority supports a woman’s right to decide is Senegal (58%); by contrast, fewer than a third support giving women this right in Nigeria (30%) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (29%). In "Women In Society," Pew Forum, 30 April 2013.           Thus one sees a range of opinion, wherein modernity in dress differs from fundamentalist stances. It is a matter of compulsion versus freedom to choose.   All Main Legal Schools of Islam Mandate the Veil?             In a footnote to the Pew Forum article, it is noted:   "The Quran states that a woman should dress modestly, but it does not specifically require that she wear a veil. See Quran 24:30-31. Informed by certain hadith, however, all main legal schools of Islam (madhhab) mandate that women should veil."           Women should veil. Compulsion then by mandate? Where are the Western feminists on this issue, except mostly absent.           One finds compulsion in an opposite direction as well:   "Azerbaijan's education ministry has banned schoolgirls from wearing headscarves to class, causing outrage among the more devout in this Muslim-majority country. On December 10, a day after Education Minister Misir Mardanov announced that headscarves must not be worn with school uniform, hundreds of parents and children staged a protest near the ministry." In "Azerbaijani Hijab Ban Controversy," by Aytan Farhadova, Institute for War and Peace Reporting," 17 December 2010.           A related ban is found in Tunisia:   "Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed has banned the wearing of the niqab, the full face veil, in public institutions for security reasons, an official source said on Friday." In "Tunisian PM bans face veils in public institutions after bombing," by Tarek Amara, Reuters, 5 July 2019.           As to Iran's Ruhollah Khomeini, might one consider his view how a society as he envisioned it might Celebrate Diversity? .   [ 3 ]    One notes the assertion that the voluntary wearing of a hijab signifies that a woman "live a life of modesty."  This begs the question for all those who play along for one day and then remove the hijab. Are these women, like the fictional Trendy Wendy above who would participate in a one day event only, living a life of immodesty throughout the remainder of the year?   Suggestions for Other Forms of Solidarity             Would a World Crucifix Day or World Yarmulke Day be observed by hijab-wearing Muslim woman? Perhaps a hijab-wearing Muslim woman might exchange the hijab for one day with a turban, to honor the Sikh traditions? Perhaps the world could celebrate in "solidarity" a "Nuns' Habit Day" to show a "life of modesty." These too could show that sought-for solidarity with others observing other religious dress codes.           More to the point, might Hijab Day founder Khan wear a crucifix for a day in solidarity with Catholics? Or a yarmulke in solidarity with religious Jews?           Why stop at religious articles of clothing? One could foment for a "World Kilt Day" or "World Jogging Outfit Day." So many items of clothing which could become objects for social action might be asserted.   What of Islamic Solidarity with Other Religions?             What of Muslim show of solidarity with other religions?  One reads:  ... the proportion of Muslims who take part in interfaith meetings does not exceed one-in-five and is often about one-in-ten or less. Participation in interfaith gatherings is especially low in the Middle East and North Africa, ranging from 8% of Muslims in the Palestinian territories to 3% in Jordan. Even in Lebanon, where Christians make up nearly 40% of the population, just 6% of Muslims say they participate in interfaith classes or meetings with Christians." In " Interfaith Relations," Pew Forum, 30 April 2013.   The Uniform of the Collective Identity?             More on Muslim women and the veil:   "First of all, the fact that they belong to Muslim identity and they follow God's rules and it's their faith. Secondly, I would say there are layers of this. It creates some kind of collective identity. It empowers them. Because many of them do it, there is a kind of uniform."           The interview responses are tinged by Gole's accompanying photo, without a veil. She continues:  "When you take into consideration the Islamic veiling in the traditional world, for instance, it changes from one region to another, from one ethnicity to another, from one national background to another. It almost changes from region to region, the way women cover themselves. The fabric is different, the colors are different. Today, we can speak almost of a sort of uniform. Although it also shows many varieties, diversities within it, we can speak of a sort of modern Islamic veiling. The fabric is modern. There is a sort of overcoat -- it started like this at least -- with a head scarf. Now a kind of fashion consciousness also enters into this new mode of veiling. But it is very different from the traditional one -- different in the sense that there is a sort of homogenization which goes beyond the nations. It's transnational. The girls in Egypt, the ones in Turkey, and the ones in Iran are not that different. So there is this collective identity which is underlined, I would say, behind this new veiling."  Interview with Nilufer Gole, in a series, "Muslims," Frontline, PBS, n. d.               What for an unveiled Nilüfer Gole, as pictured above, is this collective identity? What does a transnational "fashion" rooted in "the traditional world" signify, especially for those apologists who shun the veil themselves?           While the justification for a one day event encouraging non-Muslim women to wear the hijab, in the words of its founder and supporters, is to counter prejudice, then one would do well to consider the much more complex problem as in the recently coined word, Islamophobia .   [ 4 ]    The odd humor to this tale of a hijab-wearing American soldier is that she has felt "targeted as a Muslim in the Army" and as a culinary specialist for all soldiers objected "to cooking pork products."  So the conflict arises as to which authority is greater. Should she wish to muster out of the military, this would answer her objections, while to remain in the military seems to require the military to bend to her "authority." But this does not speak for all Muslim women, of course, as one peruses the next footnote.   [ 5 ]    While an American soldier trained to work in kitchens complains about the way she is treated as regards her hijab, one finds Kurdish women soldiers engaged in the Syrian and Iraq war not wearing the hijab. Given that these soldiers have fought against the Islamic State, might one not assert that, like the American soldier above, they have "targeted as a Muslim" other Muslims? The irony is deep.               One reads:   "... “when no one dared to enter Kirkuk, we forced IS out together with the male Peshmerga.” In contrast, however, “now we are being used for media coverage and nothing else. We demand gender equality, further rights, and the same attention to women Peshmerga than our male partners.” These women viewed their participation in the Peshmerga as a sign of broader social equality; the KRG now has an opportunity to build on the successes of female combat units against IS to create longstanding and positive social change. Having women in close-combat units can help lead to a more positive perception of women’s roles in other public positions. Moving forward, it is indispensable to afford women even greater roles than they assume now in order to demonstrate the benefits of women’s equal participation in institutions such as the Peshmerga forces." In " Peshmerga Female Fighters: From Frontline to Sideline," by Hanar Marouf, Washington Institute, 10 October 2018.           And not a hijab to be seen. Contrasting this to Gole's assertion that the hijab affords Muslim women "some kind of collective identity..." and it "empowers them," the demonstrable testimony from Kurdish women suggests other forms of identity" function as well, and "empower" these courageous soldiers.           One wonders if these Kurdish fighters, in Haqiqatjou's view as above, "wreak havoc" on Islam itself.  Time will tell.   [ 6 ]    This tale speaks the dissonance of the veil, free to be born and yet required, worn in solidarity and refused for military solidarity, and so on. The article reports:   "A German woman, who spoke on the condition she not be named, said she had traveled to the Middle East to live under the Islamic State, in part, because she used to be accosted in Germany for wearing the niqab, a black veil that covers the face. 'At the time, it was the right decision for me,' she said. 'But now, I don’t know,' she added, her voice trailing off before she decided not to speak further."           At the end of the report:  "Away from the scuffle, 27-year-old Hanifa, who said she is from Russia’s Dagestan region, spotted a woman without a face veil. 'I don’t like this,' she said. 'Women should cover their faces'."             Why should women cover their faces?  Among holy things according to Islam, one reads:   "Men are in charge of women by [right of] what Allah has given one over the other and what they spend [for maintenance] from their wealth. So righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in [the husband's] absence what Allah would have them guard. But those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance - [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed; and [finally], strike them. But if they obey you [once more], seek no means against them." Koran 4:34 - sūrat I-nisāa in Sahih International translation.           The "holy" women of ISIS cover their faces. The Peshmerga do not, and the professor holding forth on a "collective identity" which she herself does not observe as best pictured above, the whole tale of the Islamic veil and Westernized appeals to wear it in solidarity, but with who? Muslim women who obligated to cover? Muslim women who refuse? Iranian men? Western sympathizers?     [ 7 ]    Samina Ali, interviewed in the article above, notes:  "Just look at the veil. On the one hand, local and national governments in Europe have created laws to prevent Muslim women from wearing the veil based on some misguided sense of liberation. On the other hand, women are forced to cover by various Muslim governments, such as in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan under the Taliban, as well as parts of Somalia, Gaza and Chechnya."           And Sri Lanka's  ""Sirisena said he was using emergency powers to ban any form of face covering in public. The restriction will take effect from Monday, his office said in a statement. 'The ban is to ensure national security... No one should obscure their faces to make identification difficult,' the statement said. It came days after local Islamic clerics urged Muslim women not to cover their faces amid fears of a backlash after the bombings carried out by jihadists affiliated to the Islamic State group." In "Sri Lanka bans 'face-covering' under emergency protocol one week after Easter Sunday blasts; Sirisena says move to 'ensure' national security," First Post, 29 April 2019.           Forced not to.  Forced to.  Forced.           Such force so easily becomes tragedy as one small tale among many tells:  "A four-year-old girl in a village near Bareilly was killed allegedly by her father for failing to cover her head while having food, Uttar Pradesh police have said." In "Father kills 4-year-old daughter for not covering her head," HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times, 3 October 2015.           And in a similar vein:  "Esra is an Egyptian #ExMuslim. Her mum fears going to hell because of her. Her brother beats her and her sister to keep them from doubting. She is afraid of never seeing her sister again." In "I told my devout family I am TAKING OFF MY HIJAB," YouTube video, 14 January 2018.   Bound up with religion and race             A British Muslim makes the connection:   " The activities of the Oxford sex ring are 'bound up with religion and race' because all the men - though of different nationalities - were Muslim and they 'deliberately targeted vulnerable white girls, whom they appeared to regard as 'easy meat', to use one of their revealing, racist phrases', Dr Hargey said. That attitude has been promoted by religious leaders, he believes. 'On one level, most imams in the UK are simply using their puritanical sermons to promote the wearing of the hijab and even the burka among their female adherents. But the dire result can be the brutish misogyny we see in the Oxford sex ring'." In " 'Imams promote grooming rings,' Muslim leader claims," by Hayley Dixon, Telegraph UK, 16 May 2013.     [ 8 ]  The article notes the women, without hijab for the most part, were "enemies" in the eyes of the Turkish government. Political "enemies" indeed when dissent against entrenched power shows itself.               "Several thousand women converged for the 17th annual Women’s Day march in Istanbul on Friday, but were met with tear gas fired by the police who tried to disperse the crowd. Women who participated in the March responded to Erdoğan’s accusations on Twitter, saying they were chanting and whistling as part of the demonstration and did not target the call to prayer, which began during their protest."           How alike is the picture from the Women's Day march in Turkey to the now historic protests in Iran, as the theocrats took over decades ago. No hijabs in evidence as a "collective identity" and precious little "solidarity" for these women? Theologically, one reads of woman: "This is the deficiency in her intelligence."           One might reconsider Islamophobia revisited - a thumbnail sketch of tolerance and inter-religious dialogues.   [ 9 ]    It becomes clear.  " 'The hypocrisy of the Left is never more pronounced than when it comes to the topic of hijab,' said Mohammed. 'As women in the West demand for themselves the right to wear what they want – in fact to be topless if they so choose – those same women will celebrate hijab. They splash hijab on Barbie dolls, on [modeling] runways and on the cover of magazines,' said Mohammed. 'A tool of oppression – a garment that perpetuates rape culture – is celebrated by women who claim to be progressive. They want freedom for themselves, but are happy to support the subjugation of other women. If they actually truly cared, they would be celebrating the women in Iran that are being arrested for defying the compulsory hijab laws'."           Let us celebrate the women seeking freedom from oppression.

---

 

When words are overused

When words are overused, -used, -used,
        We come to see they're  abused, -bused, -bused.
Words which have accused, -cused, -cused,
        When overused become bruised, bruised, bruised.
Such words when so infused, -fused, -fused,
        With overuse are defused, -fused, -fused,

Stagger as if boozed, boozed, boozed,
        And lose their punch, as refused, -fused, -fused.

 

---

 

Purple people

"In the field of psychology, the Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people of low ability have illusory superiority and mistakenly assess their cognitive ability as greater than it is. The cognitive bias of illusory superiority comes from the inability of low-ability people to recognize their lack of ability. Without the self-awareness of metacognition, low-ability people cannot objectively evaluate their competence or incompetence. As described by social psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger, the cognitive bias of illusory superiority results from an internal illusion in people of low ability and from an external misperception in people of high ability; that is, 'the miscalibration of the incompetent stems from an error about the self, whereas the miscalibration of the highly competent stems from an error about others'." In "Dunning–Kruger effect," Wikipedia, n. d.

 

                    Are there brilliant purple people
And stupid purple people too?
Or does purple say just one thing
To another-colored you?

                    Does purple say it's just great?
Or does purple carry stings?
Does purple tell of competence,
Or stupidity's incompetent things?

                    Purple privilege is accused?
Which colorists ask such guff?
Another-coloreds pretend abuse
Through the colorists' rhetorical bluff.

                    How does purple sit with you,
When you won't sit with it?
If you won't, then tell all why
Purples should give a shit?

                    How does purple seem so less
To another-colored's more?
How does purple answer
An another-colored boor?

                    If you're purple and arrogant
About your purpleness,
Or if arrogance is other-colored,
Which color should then confess?

                    Are there kindly purple people
And awful purple people too?
Which color should be battered
By a specific-colored you?

 

---

 

Black on black is hard to read - a companion piece to screed  ^{[ 1 ]}

"Have we heard Obama make a statement about this carnage or that most homicide victims are black and that their murderers are black? No, and we won't, because black-on-black crime, like black-on-white crime, does not fit the liberal narrative of the continuing problem of white racism." In "Media Dishonesty and Race Hustlers," by Walter Williams, RealClearPolitics, 11 April 2012.

 

Black on black is hard to read, and so is white on white.
For this, American hustlers need their whites against blacks to fight.
Black on black is just old news, not fit for the newsprint's grime.
The pages of some throwaway can well ignore such crime.

White on white? Passé while true, so why race towards that tale?
The sameness in that witches' brew will also grow too stale.
White on black? Well shout hurrah! Now there's a winning pitch.
But is such purposed political strife now turning ironically rich?

Is it that crime's mostly ignored, and victims? -- Well, you know --
Unless they feed the gaping maw as hustlers hype their show.
No, black on black just won't sell, as if it's all worn out;
While white on white is vanilla plain, no protest there nor shout.

Just wait for one quite perfect plot to gin and twist and rage,
As the old game trots out to play when it finds its perfect stage.
Black on black is hard to read, and so is white on white.
For this the hustlers always need their whites against blacks to fight.

Dishonesty is how it works, when hustle turns to jive,
And as the flames are sizzling hot, not all emerge alive.
Race to be the loudest, first with outrage, puffed and loud
To trot out to the waiting news -- the reporters' angling crowd.

It's there the odd and truly sad universal is said to be,
All the while the hustlers grin and do so, racially.
The show is old, the story weak, and race grows more unclear,
That one ignore the mixtures as more colors now appear.

 

Addendum of Partisanship:    "... after controlling for other factors, partisanship has a greater association with views about the country’s racial progress than demographic factors, though being young and more educated are also significant predictors, particularly among whites."   In "Race in America 2019," by Juliana Menasce Horowitz, Anna Brown and Kiana Cox, Pew Research Center, 9 April 2019.   ^{[ 2 ]}

 

Addendum of an Accusation of Being White:   "Webb then interrupts her to let her know he’s a black man, causing Martin to take a pause. 'You see, you went to white privilege; this is the falsehood in this,' Webb replies. 'You went immediately with an assumption. Your people, obviously, or you didn’t look.' Martin apologizes repeatedly for her false accusation, adding that 'her people' gave her the wrong information."  In "A CNN analyst called out a Fox News contributor for his white privilege. He’s black." by Michael Brice-Saddler, Washington Post, 15 January 2019.

 

Addendum of Neither Black Nor White:   "We often hear pleas for frank discussions about 'race in America.' Yet rarely are Asian Americans ever seriously considered in this supposed dialogue." In "Are Asian Americans disadvantaged by “white privilege”? by Arthur Sakamoto, Work In Progress, 26 May 2018.   ^{[ 3 ]}

 

Addendum II of Neither Black Nor White:   "Yousuf Abdelfatah already knows the answer he'll give about his race on the 2020 census questionnaire will be wrong. He's an Arab American, but the only race options on the census are white, black, Asian and categories for American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander. Reluctantly, Abdelfatah will mark white." In " As census approaches, many Arab Americans feel left out," by Joseph Gedeon, Associated Press, 13 April 2019.   ^{[ 4 ]}

 

Addendum III of Neither Black Nor White:   "Project RACE advocates for multiracial children, multiracial adults, and their families primarily through multiracial education and community awareness. We do not advocate for racial classifications, but are committed to the appropriate inclusion of multiracial people on any forms that require racial identification. We support policies that make a positive impact on people of multiracial heritage at local, state, and national levels.  In "Our Mission," Project Race, n. d.    ^{[ 5 ]}

 

Addendum IV of Neither Black Nor White:    "This evidence makes it clear that so-called 'diversity' is not in fact the true goal of these institutions, but rather a certain vein of diversity. In an attempt to increase the proportion of Hispanic and African-American students, colleges have perhaps unknowingly created a reverse bias for Asians, who still on average tend to be the wealthiest and most educated demographic despite these obstacles. Their ideal racial makeup would be one that mirrors the population of our country to a tee, but in striving towards this paragon, they have compromised fairness and equality." In "Affirmative action is a discriminatory institution," by Milan Bharadwaj, Cavlier Daily, 26 July 2019.

 

Addendum of White Kneegrows:    "Trinity College professor Johnny Eric Williams is capturing headlines once again for proposing 'whiteness is terrorism' on Twitter. The Hartford, Connecticut, sociology professor who called white people 'inhuman a-holes' who need to 'die' following a shooting attack on congressional Republicans now says 'whiteness is terrorism'."  In "Trinity College defends professor's 'whiteness is terrorism' message," by Douglas Ernst, Washington Times, 29 April 2019.   ^{[ 6 ]}

 

Addendum of Admitted Race Baiting:   "The homeless white boy flaps down like a dirty migratory bird, makes himself a nest from garbage and sleeps on the sidewalk. A sign on his shopping cart asks for money—I never give. I should tho 'cause he makes me feel good. White people begging us for food feels like justice.  ^{[ 7 ]}  It feels like Afro-Futurism after America falls. It feels like a Black Nationalist wet dream. It has the feels I rarely feel, a hunger for historical vengeance satisfied so well I rub my belly." In "Seeing poor white people makes me happy," Nicholas Powers, RaceBaitR, 11 June 2019.

 

Addendum of What's Suspect:   "Racial and ethnic classifications of any sort are inherently suspect and call for the most exacting judicial scrutiny. While the goal of achieving a diverse student body is sufficiently compelling to justify consideration of race in admissions decisions under some circumstances, petitioner's special admissions program, which forecloses consideration to persons like respondent, is unnecessary to the achievement of this compelling goal and therefore invalid under the Equal Protection Clause. Pp. 287-320." In "University of California Regents v. Bakke (1978), No. 76-811," 28 June 1978.

 

Addendum of Satisfaction Up Between Six and Nine Points:   "Satisfaction is also up by between six and nine points on crime, the position of blacks and other racial minorities, the distribution of income and wealth, and the opportunity for a person to get ahead through hard work." In "Americans' Take on the U.S. Is Improved, but Still Mixed," by Lydia Saad, Gallup, 27 January 2020.

 

NOTES   [ 1 ]     Williams, as a conservative political voice, has been discounted in the partisan game as an inauthentic voice, thereby dismissing him and others like him from that oft-requested "honest" discussion about race.           The companion piece suggested to this rhyme and its addenda and footnotes? White Noise , and its salient addenda and footnotes.   [ 2 ]   The Pew research notes in support of the observation that "partisanship" is evident:  "Among whites, those who are more educated, as well as those who identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, are particularly likely to see advantages to being white."     Identity: More or Less             Other interesting taxonomic assumptions are found in the Pew report:   "Blacks are more likely than Hispanics or Asians – and much more likely than whites – to say that their race is central to their identity. About three-quarters of black adults say being black is extremely (52%) or very (22%) important to how they think of themselves; 59% of Hispanics and 54% of Asians say being Hispanic or Asian, respectively, is at least very important to their overall identity, with about three-in-ten in each group saying it’s extremely important. In contrast, just 15% of whites say being white is very or extremely important to how they think of themselves; about two-thirds say it’s either only a little important (18%) or not important at all (47%)."   Distinctions             This observation is most interesting, as the assumption that "Hispanic" is now a racial classification is taken for granted. One reads:  "It could be argued that the term Hispanic should apply to all Spanish-speaking cultures or countries, as the historical roots of the word specifically pertain to the Iberian region. It is difficult to label a nation or culture with one term, such as Hispanic, as the ethnicities, customs, traditions, and art forms (music, literature, dress, culture, cuisine, and others) vary greatly by country and region. The Spanish language and Spanish culture are the main distinctions." In "Hispanic," Wikipedia, n. d.           Thus one finds race being conflated with "language" and "culture." Yet most American blacks -- thinking of one of many descriptors, African-American -- does not link to language nor a specific culture. Yet political "partisanship," as above now plays a part in seemingly racial distinctions.           Thus the "honest" discussion about race and race relations in the United States seems at the minimum confused and, one can argue, dishonest if even allowed.   Honestly?             One reads:  "President Bill Clinton called for a national conversation on race the year before Byrd, who was black, was murdered by three men, two of whom were white supremacists. And the same thing happened then that happened after Obama’s beer summit: nothing. National conversations on race, whether convened by political leaders or sparked by collective outrage, never last long. We say we want the conversation. But we just can’t handle it — especially in public." In "That honest conversation about race everyone wants? We can’t handle it," by Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post, 2 May 2014.           A few years later, the same medium opined:   "...an honest conversation about race, if we could have it, would differentiate between the small, fringe groups of racists in this country and others who have no malice toward anyone but hold different points of view on various race-related issues. An honest conversation about race might help the left understand that many of the people they call racists are not that at all, even if they don’t prescribe to all the standard liberal solutions." In "An honest conversation about race is not allowed," by Gary Abernathy, Washington Post, 14 August 2017.           So some think that conversation is something the "we" cannot handle, and some think that it "is not allowed." Odd, given the many voices saying such a conversation should be had. And then not. And then....           Returning to the Pew research and its identification about political partisanship, one thinks on the Washington Post's observation:  "...everyone retreats to their corners, and the entrenched accusations continue and amplify, with no progress toward bridging the gulf that divides us."            Which groups are "particularly likely to see advantages?" One may begin this footnote again, for it is both a circular game and partisan, in the end. There are some distinct problems however, as one continues to the below.     [ 3 ]    While the black on white partisan-colored game plays out, Sakamoto observes:   "...my many years of experience working in this area of research lead me to believe that this meticulous study will be largely ignored. Most American sociologists will likely continue to favor 'political correctness' over statistical correctness in order to obsequiously gain favor with established elites in the field whose academic capital is heavily invested in the value of outdated theories such as 'white privilege.' The serious study of Asian Americans will likely continue to be marginalized even as so many sociologists ironically claim to be dedicated to promoting an inclusive and enlightened dialogue about 'race in America' sans Asian Americans. Unlike Don Quixote, however, tenured sociologists in the field of racial relations will also likely continue to receive attractive salaries, lifetime employment, and other professional rewards for engaging in their fantasies."            One might consider the particularly American pastime:  Everything's about my colored skin  - (or sadly, Why racism works).   A Partisan Interest in Segregation?              As to a rejection of what Sakamoto terms a fantasy and the Pew research indicates is partisan driven: one reads another similar opinion:  "...the ones who are preoccupied with judging people on the basis of their race, gender and ethnicity seem to be mostly the ones on the left. The ones who insist on separating the American people into distinct groups are liberal Democrats. The left has a vested interest in making sure our society stays segregated and does not assimilate into one united American culture." In "Let me tell you about 'White Privilege'," by Greg Crosby, Jewish World Review, 12 April 2019.            If the Pew observations indicate by poll data that political stances drive, in part, an alleged "fantasy" or alleged reality of such distinct differences between different groups identified by skin color, then the "divide" remains, proven by the conversation which Capehart says "we can't handle" and Abernathy says "is not allowed," Such is the game of racial politics played by, in Williams' view as above, "Media Dishonesty and Race Hustlers."            "...after controlling for other factors, partisanship has a greater association with views about the country’s racial progress than demographic factors...."            The assertion is that a "...liberal narrative of the continuing problem of white racism" is partisan, Pew finds partisanship is the greater association." One then considers race via a partisan lens as follows:            Assign differing values to skin colors, separate by those colors, and then fit the "chains" and assess the penalties for the identified class. Who did that? Who does that? Who will do that in the future?   [ 4 ]    This also underscores the Pew research, for that form of identity which does not involve specific racial characteristics, whatever and however such racial characteristics are described, is a wish to be identified with another identity other than the many already identified. This leads the way forward to many more "boxes," each separated from another more by partisanship, political or religious and perhaps both, while "race" no longer defines even race. Being self-identified as neither black nor white nor a number of other taxonomic terms becomes eventually problematic.   What Color Reflects? All Colors?              The article notes:  "Does someone from Egypt, for example, check the African American box because their home country is in Africa? Would someone from Iraq be expected to mark that they are Asian? 'As an Egyptian, I considered marking 'African American' but I'm not black,' 24-year-old Nashville resident Dina El-Rifai said. "However, marking 'white' doesn't reflect who I am or the diversity I bring'."            Mix this in with the postmodern assertions of fluidity in self-identity, and one has reached a moment in time wherein the words proliferate and dilute the seemingly "black and white" issue of race. Given that a language group like Hispanic is now counterpoint to a racial distinction of skin color, what next category will be supported by the politics of "black and white" thinking?   [ 5 ]     Mixed race? Which races?  One reads of the conundrum:   "Mixed-race individuals (from all ethnic backgrounds) make up roughly 2% of the total U.S. population. To give some context, full white Americans make up around 60% of the U.S. population, African Americans are roughly 12%, and Asian Americans around 6%. Being half Asian and half white myself, I am just one individual out of a fairly significant, but often overlooked minority racial group — the hapas, or those of mixed race." In "Hapas: The Overlooked Minority Racial Group," by Cameron Deptula, Honolulu Civil Beat, 4 April 2019.   Retreat to Racial Tribalism              One notes the link to partisanship in the article:   "Unfortunately for hapas, and many individuals of other ethnic backgrounds, this new concept of 'race' isn’t necessarily inclusive of them. Despite both one's blood lineage and culture, people from full-blooded, binary ethnic groups are somehow allowed to revoke the rightful culture of others. Ultimately, this trend of bigoted racial judgment from both the left and the right and their subsequent primitive retreat to racial tribalism is used to suppress the voices of others, as was the case with my two 'progressive' peers. Rather than accept others for who they are along with celebrating the similarities and differences we all have, in today’s climate, people would rather exclude and silence."            This insight is helpful. Those who advocate for "a" race often "would rather exclude and silence."  This is the raw stuff of much partisanship, and the article notes perceptively, "this trend of bigoted racial judgment from both the left and the right" also reflects on the Pew research, suggesting how political "race" has become in the hands of -- well -- the next crop of racists.   [ 6 ]     As part of the "honest discussion about race," allowed or not allowed depending on who says what, once can add "scholarship."  To flesh out the article excerpt above, one reads:   "...Williams said 'there are many socially defined black folks who have internalized whiteness — as a way and knowing and being in the world. They like others who believe themselves to be ‘white,’ act on these ideas in ways that create and sustain systemic white racism. Such whiteness internalization lead folks like Candace Owens, Barry and Michelle Obama to engage in actions and policy creations that are existential threats to humanity, particularly the racial oppressed. Thus my post denotes the urgency of exposing these individual as enemies of humanity’s well-being,' Williams said." In "Trinity College professor tweets 'whiteness is terrorism,' refers to Barack and Michelle Obama as 'white kneegrows'," by Neil Vigdor, Hartford Courant, 23 April 2019.            "...hustlers grin and do so, racially."   [ 7 ]     About RaceBaitR, from the site one reads: "RaceBaitR is a platform created to explore the various ways race is expressed and defined with the goal of creating a world without racism and all of its intersecting oppressions. Some might call this race baiting. Okay."            Okay?            A "world without racism" predicated on expressing racist views is fallacious. The writer's "hunger for historical vengeance" may be applied by all groups against other groups, and the nightmare will be complete, brutal and deadly. And -- okay -- racist.   Okay for 4-year-old Children in New York City              Such sentiments are found elsewhere:   "What are they teaching in New York City preschools? At one taxpayer-funded Brooklyn nursery, it isn’t numbers, letters or nap time — but ­racism and victimhood, plus transgender and 'queer' rights, with a heavy dose of political indoctrination in the mix. 'I was kind of horrified,' the father of a preschooler told me. 'They say they’re trying to reduce racism and discrimination. To me, they’re perpetuating it, fomenting a sense of victimhood that 4-year-olds would never consider on their own'." In " Far-left agitprop for pre-K tots: what NYC schools have come to," by Andrea Peyser, New York Post, 27 January 2020.

 

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Mice like men

The mouse died in the mouse trap;
The cheese cost it its life.
Such are the ways of tasty lures
With which this world is rife.
Bait lies lightly as the trap is set;
It always seems a winning bet
Until the trip and loaded spring
Extract their price, which is everything.
The best laid plans of mice like men
Prove the worst, but then again....

We mice like men sniff and smile

At well laid lures which so beguile.

 

Addendum of Cheese in the Mousetraps:   "When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know, the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motives. Mighty little force is needed to control a man whose mind has been hoodwinked; contrariwise, no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not fission bombs, - not anything - you can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him." In "Revolt in 2100," Robert A. Heinlein, Spectrum Literary, 2013.

 

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Pooped

"One of America's wealthiest cities has a huge problem with public poop. Between 2011 and 2018, San Francisco experienced a massive increase in reported incidents of human feces found on public streets. In 2011, just over 5,500 reports were logged by the San Francisco Department of Public Works; in 2018, the number increased to more than 28,000." In "People are pooping more than ever on the streets of San Francisco," by Ben Gilbert, SFGate, 18 April 2019.

 

    ^{[ 1 ]}

 

Gee, I'm pooped. It's tiring. All the news, conspiring To snicker while admiring Government's Public Works.

Gee, they've scooped, perspiring, As tourists go inquiring Where to walk, desiring To avoid such public works.

Gee, drawers drooped, aspiring To poop amid backfiring; That's the thing, inspiring San Francisco's public jerks.

 

Detail from the Seal of San Francisco:  "Gold in peace, iron in war."

 

Addendum of a Proposed Amendment to the San Francisco Seal:   "Oro en paz, fierro en guerra, y mierda en las calles"

 

Addendum of How the Public Works:   "San Francisco Public Works has a $72.5 million-a-year street cleaning budget — including spending $12 million a year on what essentially have become housekeeping services for homeless encampments. The costs include $2.8 million for a Hot Spots crew to wash down the camps and remove any biohazards, $2.3 million for street steam cleaners, $3.1 million for the Pit Stop portable toilets, plus the new $830,977-a-year Poop Patrol to actively hunt down and clean up human waste. (By the way, the poop patrolers earn $71,760 a year, which swells to $184,678 with mandated benefits.)" In "Street housekeeping keeps SF Mayor Breed — and everyone else — hopping," by Matier & Ross, San Francisco Chronicle, 22 August 2018.   ^{[ 2 ]}

 

Addendum of an All-Time High:    "Last year, the number of reports spiked to an all-time high at 28,084. In first quarter 2019, the pace continued with 6,676 instances of human waste in the public way." In "Mapping San Francisco's Human Waste Challenge - 132,562  Cases Reported In The Public Way Since 2008," by Adam Andrzejewski, Forbes, 15 April 2019.

 

Addendum of Becoming Known for Shit:   "In California at least, one is struck by the contrast between the fastidious attention paid to the social duty of scooping up and disposing of dog feces, and the rather more paralyzed and guilty reaction to the plague of human feces. The former is treated as a moral imperative among the enlightened—and the thin plastic bags used as the means to this moral end have so far escaped the fate of plastic straws, well on their way to being outlawed as an environmental outrage. Even social-justice warriors don’t consider it their personal duty, however, to tidy up after their fellow human beings on the streets." In "California's Biggest Cities Confront a 'Defecation Crisis'," by Charles Kesler, Wall Street Journal, 16 August 2019.

 

Addendum of the Experiment:   "For the last three decades, San Francisco has conducted a real-life experiment in what happens when a society stops enforcing bourgeois norms of behavior. The city has done so in the name of compassion toward the homeless. The results have been the opposite: street squalor and misery have increased, even as government expenditures have ballooned. Yet the principles that have guided the city’s homelessness policy remain inviolate: homelessness is a housing problem; it is involuntary; and its persistence is the result of inadequate public spending. These propositions are readily disproved by talking to people living on the streets." In "San Francisco, Hostage to the Homeless," by Heather MacDonald, City Journal, Autumn 2019.

 

Addendum of Sex Camp-piss-co:   "Chesa Boudin: 'We will not prosecute cases involving quality-of-life crimes. Crimes such as public camping, offering or soliciting sex, public urination, blocking a sidewalk, etc., should not and will not be prosecuted. Many of these crimes are still being prosecuted, we have a long way to go to decriminalize poverty and homelessness'." In "What’s the answer to quality-of-life crimes in SF. DA candidates give answers," by Phil Matier, San Francisco Chronicle, 29 October 2019.  ^{[ 3 ]}

 

Addendum of Expense and Waste:   "Two-member teams staffed the toilets during the overnight hours. Just one attendant staffs them the rest of the time. It cost an extra $300,000 to keep the toilets open around the clock from mid-August through mid-November. During that period, according to Public Works logs, the three toilets were used a total of 10,518 times between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., when they would normally have been closed. So the extra $300,000 for 10,518 after-hour uses comes to $28.52 per overnight flush." In "At $28.50 a flush, San Francisco leaders say public toilets worth it," by Phil Matier, San Francisco Chronicle, 4 December 2019.

 

Addendum of Shopping for Groceries:   :"Fox News medical correspondent Dr. Marc Siegel says San Francisco residents should be worried about the homeless crisis' effect on their health after video surfaced of a homeless man defecating in the middle of an aisle at a local grocery store."  In "San Francisco 'awash in human waste'," by Victor Garcia, Fox, 17 December 2019.

 

Addendum of Squandering and Squalor:   "...in a blow to the area's reputation as a corporate destination, Oracle Corp. last month said it would hold its OpenWorld conference in Las Vegas after more than 20 years in San Francisco because of the city's pricey hotels and street conditions. The move is estimated to cost $64 million in lost revenue. 'San Francisco has squandered its place in the sun,' said John Price, CEO of Greffex Inc., an Aurora, Colorado-based genetic engineering company, who traveled to the conference fresh off a business trip to Asia. 'San Francisco is the Bill Clinton of cities. It squandered itself with its flaws'." In " Bankers flooding JPMorgan event bemoan San Francisco squalor," by Sophie Alexander and Riley Griffin, MSN Money, 16 January 2020.

 

One could consider the politics and politicians behind a Two teared society

 

NOTES   [ 1 ]    One notes the commendable courage of the city to fine poopers.... One reads with some amusement:  " 'I am sure that many of us have stepped into dog waste accidentally and found ourselves frustrated by the poopetrators,' Supervisor Tang said in a release. 'Even with existing laws on the books, I still hear complaints from residents that pet guardians are not being held responsible and the law is not being enforced.' The law — and yes, a San Francisco dog poop law does exist — is called the Scoop the Poop Act of 1978 and was introduced by none other than the late Harvey Milk." In " 'Poopetrator' Push Seeks to Wipe Away Dog Waste," by Joe Kukura, SF Weekly, 23 May 2017.   [ 2 ]    There is a precedent for the unwillingness of the political leadership of San Francisco to spend millions on a public works poop patrol.                      Urine luck (pun intended), as one reads:   "Leaders of the San Francisco Police Officers Association weren’t immediately available for comment on the judges' statements. But when Chronicle columnists Matier & Ross first reported the destruction of the warrants on Nov. 14, Martin Halloran, head of the police union, told them that the court was 'sending a message that there is no accountability for what you have done, and the laws on the books can be violated with no repercussions. I don’t think it’s what the public wants.' Stewart said the judges have chosen the best alternative available and don’t plan to resume issuing warrants. Still, he said, 'people in the neighborhood have a right to be upset'." In "SF judge explains why 66,000 arrest warrants were discarded," by Bob Egelko, SF Gate, 7 December 2016.           And so the logic is laid bare. 1) No accountability on the part of political leadership, and 2) people have a right to be upset.           Walk a dog that poops in the street, and the politics assumes you can and will pay a fine in the hundreds of dollars. Poop in the street yourself and the politics assumes you cannot pay the fine -- in the "Shitty by the Bay."           You have a right to be upset. So what.           That's just the nature of Politics .  Shit.   [ 3 ]    An example of shit and a quality-of-life crime:    " 'It was diarrhea. Hot liquid. I was soaked, and it was coming off my eyelashes and into my eyes,' Van Tassel said. 'Paramedics who came to treat me said there was so much of it on me, that it looked like the man was saving it up for a month.' Van Tassel was rushed to Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital after the grotesque attack, where she was tested for infectious diseases caused by contact with feces. She'll need to be retested every three months.." In "A Bucket of Hot Diarrhea Was Randomly Poured on a Woman by a Homeless Man," by Joel Grover and Amy Corral, NBC News, 11 November 2019.           Such is the progress of the enlightened political leadership which is insulated from such a hot mess.

 

---

 

Islam is identified - a litany for April, 2019

Islam is identified Again and yet again. If one should note the obvious, Denial shrieks, but then Islam is identified, Again and yet again.	Islam is connected with Words for all to read. If one should note their meaning, Denial shrieks, but then Islam is connected with Words for all to read.
Islam has its problem With the world all around. If one should read the papers, Denial shrieks, but still Islam has its problem With the world all around.	Islam seems explosive In thought, in word and deed. If one should find connection, Denial shrieks, but yet Islam seems explosive In thought, in word and deed.

 

 

Addendum of a Believer Attcking Nonbelievers:   "Arman Rezazadeh, who is of Iranian descent, used a sledgehammer to smash windows and doors in Perry Barr, Aston and Erdington on 21 March. The 34-year-old admitted religiously aggravated criminal damage. Judge Michael Chambers QC said Rezazadeh had been 'motivated by religious hatred' and all the mosques he attacked were used by Sunni Muslims." In "Birmingham mosque attacks: Shia Muslim jailed," BBC, 28 November 2019.

 

Addendum of a Death Toll Rising in Sri Lanka:  "The government on Monday blamed National Thowheeth Jama’ath, a little-known radical Islamist organization, for the bombings. An official said the group, which had not carried out any serious attacks before, had help from 'an international network'." In "Sri Lanka Bombings Live Updates: Terrorist Group Is Identified, and Death Toll Rises," New York Times, 22 April 2019.   ^{[ 1 ]}

 

Addendum from Nigeria:   "Fulani militants have waged attacks on Christian villages in recent weeks, continuing the jihadist campaign it began in 2009. Fulani Islamic militants have killed more than 120 Christians and burned dozens of homes in northern Nigeria in a series of attacks since the election season in February. Their violent agenda was recently spurred by Kaduna Gov. Nasir El-Rufai’s false claim that Adara Christians murdered over 100 Fulani, on the eve of Nigeria’s presidential election. His false statements encouraged Islamic militants and Fulani herdsmen to hammer Christian villages in the Kaduna, Benue and Borno state. The Nigerian Emergency Management Agency refuted his statement, proclaiming it as, 'a rumor to instigate violence'." In "Islamic Militants Increase Attacks on Nigerian Christians," International Christian Concern, 30 March
2019.   ^{[ 2 ]}
 

Addendum from the Congo:   "The ADF is thought to have killed at least 700 civilians and more than 20 United Nations peacekeepers. The ADF was believed to be behind an attack that killed seven people on February 8, was blamed for killing 10 soldiers and civilians on January 9, and nine people in an attack on January 9, all in the Beni region of North Kivu." In "ISIS claims first attack in DR Congo, saying it killed soldiers near Uganda border," byJoanne Stocker, Defense Post, 18 April 2019.

 

Addendum from Syria:  " 'Of course there were beheadings — why should I lie?' says a Syrian woman. 'It's based on the Quran and the rules of God.' Asked about the Yazidi minority, which ISIS targeted with a campaign of genocide, the women shout: 'Devil worshippers!' Misconceptions about the ancient Yazidi religion have led to dozens of massacres over the centuries. When ISIS took over a third of Iraq in 2014, thousands of Yazidis were killed or captured as sex slaves. 'If they don't convert to Islam and they don't become Muslim like us and worship God, then they deserve it, an Iraqi woman says." In " 'We Pray For The Caliphate To Return': ISIS Families Crowd Into Syrian Camps," by Jane Arraf, NPR, 19 April 2019.

 

Addendum from Cameroon:   "Boko Haram fighters torched a village in Cameroon's troubled Far North Region overnight and killed 11 civilians in their sleep, security sources told AFP on Friday." In "11 sleeping civilians killed in Cameroon Boko Haram attack," Agence France Presse, 19 April 2019.   ^{[ 3 ]}

 

Addendum of Accursed Paris:   "The cross was broken, a sign of good / And the building collapsed in a fiery blaze. / Oh accursed Paris, "rejoice" over tidings/ Of humiliation, burning, and poverty. / Let me not find a deceiver to lament them / Or one speechless with grief for the ancient monument. / By no means! We rejoice over anything that hurts them, / So beware, oh hypocrites, beware! / The land of Syria has not forgotten their crimes, nor has / Africa forgotten centuries of captivity. / How many mosques, have the cannons erased their traces / In our land, how many ruins of colonialism? / How much have our peoples been degraded in the name of the Church? / Behold, the rivers of blood flow! / We will return to water the paving stones of their nightclubs / With the blood of the unbelievers we shall meet. / France thought it would defeat our Lord, / But he who tries to defeat the Omnipotent one will be defeated." In " Jihadi Ideologue Celebrates Notre Dame Cathedral Fire, Threatens Jihad Against France," April 17, 2019 (Telegram.me/ Monotheism First and Always, April 17, 2019)

 

Addendum from Australia:   "...a 'flagrant' breach of a court order in relation to construction works to build a Muslim religious centre on their rural property in Colo. They and their business were convicted on 12 charges of contempt of court. A furious Mustapha Kara-Ali left the Court on Thursday saying: 'Our religion is prime, the cross belongs in the dustbin of history'."In "Mustapha and Diaa Kara-Ali charged with contempt of court for clearing land," by Benedict Brook, News.com.au, 19 April 2019.   ^{[ 4 ]}

 

Addendum from Spain:   "The suspect’s name is Zouhair el Bouhdidi and he is a student at the University of Seville. According to police sources in Spain, the young man was preparing an imminent attack against the processions of Holy Week in Seville, one of the most important events of the Catholic calendar. According to the newspaper El Confidencial, el Bouhdidi has already confessed to the Moroccan police his plans to commit a 'large-scale massacre' in the Andalusian city. The Spanish secret services had reportedly been following him for several weeks." In "Police Stop Alleged Terrorist Plan to Attack Spain’s Holy Week," Itxu Diaz, Daily Beast, 17 April 2019.

 

Addendum from Italy:   "...chats also contained references to aspects of guerrilla warfare and sabotage, according to investigators, and explicit mentions of violence such as when Frittitta mentioned how he would like to use a knife he carried with him to slit throats. 'Martyrdom is the best way to die,' Ghafir is alleged to have said in the online chats and added, 'Allah will not deny us this possibility.' In other comments, he said, 'The law of Allah … does not apply except with the sword. And one must be cruel to the traitors, to the rebels. And all dead.' The case marks the latest successful arrest of Islamic radicals in Italy which has seen several major plots foiled in recent years including a Somali migrant who was arrested in December after planning to bomb the Vatican and other Italian churches." In "Italian Convert to Islam and Moroccan Migrant Arrested over Terror Plot," by Chris Tomlinson, Breitbart, 20 April 2019.

 

Addendum from Iran:   "Ayatollah Nouri Hamadani ‎emphasized that according to the narrations, jihad was always ‎emphasized by the Prophet Muhammad and the Infallibles and added, 'God has given the ‎ummah dignity as a result of jihad. Every good thing has degrees and levels but one must ‎know that above all good is being martyred on the path of God.' ‎ Ayatollah Nouri Hamadani ‎stressed that jihad is the criterion for determining the true believer ‎from one who isn’t a true believer, 'Today, despite the fact that there is no other hard ‎battlefront, those who desire to be presence on the frontlines are real Muslims and those ‎who don’t desire to be present on the frontlines, they are hypocrites'.”" In "Iran’s authority due to sacrifices of great veterans, martyrs," AhlulBayt (a. s.) News Agency, 18 April 2019.   ^{[ 5 ]}

 

Addendum from Pakistan of a Singular Crime:  "...a case should be registered against the man, Khalid Satti, under the kidnapping and rape clauses. He kidnapped the woman, a resident of Islamabad’s Iqbal Town, and forced her to convert from Christianity to Islam in order to marry her. She is the mother of three, the report noted. It also suggested action against the nikkah registrar, Muhammad Ali, and police officials such as the DSP, SHO and investigation officer of the police station in whose jurisdiction the crime occurred." In "Christian woman was kidnapped, forcibly converted and raped in Islamabad: investigators," Samaa Digital, 29 March 2019.   ^{[ 6 ]}

 

Addendum of Addressing the Facts, not the Politics:   "Much to the chagrin of the majority Democrats who organized the hearing, one witness, Zionist Organization of America President Morton Klein, refused to abide their willful blindness. Mr. Klein emphasized the disproportionate occurrence of hate crimes against Jews in America—a consistent phenomenon for over two decades based upon hard FBI data (1996–2017). Indeed, despite the Committee's hand-wringing about 'Islamophobia'—notwithstanding 53 jihadist attacks which have caused 158 deaths in the U.S., since the cataclysmic 9/11/2001 jihad carnage, and zero, remotely comparable depredations by Jews—hate crime rates targeting Jews, between 2015 and 2017, remained 2.2 to 3.1-fold higher, relative to the rates of hate crimes against Muslims. Mr. Klein’s greatest 'offense,' however, was to expose the moral perversity of focusing on 'Islamophobia,' or worse still equating it with Antisemitism, when Jews are being subjected to a global pandemic of Muslim Jew-hatred, which includes the attitudes of U.S. Muslims." In "Mort Klein Educates Congress On The Global Pandemic Of Muslim Jew-Hatred," Dr. Andrew Bostom, 11 April 2019.

 

Addendum of Identifying Islam Against Islam:    "Local media reports stated that the imam and worshippers were shot dead at a mosque in the Qiva district in al-Bayda, after they refused to stop their Eid prayers on Tuesday when ordered to do so by Houthi militiamen. Sanaa residents also reported that the Houthi-controlled Religious Endowments and Guidance offices instructed religious guides and militiamen to monitor other 'violating' mosques. Yemenis on Monday were deeply divided over when the first day of Eid would be, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset." In "Houthis kill imam, 9 worshippers for following Saudi Eid al-Fitr moon sighting," Al Arabiyah, 6 June 2019.

 

Addendum of Islamic Hatred and Anger:   "... a concept in Islam, literally 'loyalty and disavowal', which signifies loving and hating for the sake of Allah. Al-wala' wa-l-bara' is referred to as holding fast to all that is pleasing to God, and withdrawing from and opposing all that is displeasing to Allah, for the sake of Allah. This is for their calling towards something other than submission to Allah, whether on purpose or by nature of disbelief. Loving for the sake of Allah means to love Allah and to show loyalty to him by following his Shariah. It means to love all that is good and permissible in the Quran and Sunnah. This type of love requires one to defend Allah's deen and to preserve it. It is to love those who are obedient to Allah and to defend and assist them. Hating for the sake of Allah signifies showing anger towards those who oppose Allah, His messenger, His deen, and the believers. " In "Al Wala' Wal Bara'," Wikipedia, n d.

 

Addendum of Main Perpetrators:   "Manfred Gerstenfeld — a leading global authority on antisemitism and the author of Europe’s Crumbling Myths: The Post-Holocaust Origins of Today’s Antisemitism — told The Algemeiner on Friday, 'That France is the Western European country where the problems of antisemitism are greatest has been evident since the year 2000'. 'Most murders since then of Jews — all by Muslims — because of their being Jews have been in France,' Gerstenfeld continued. 'Currently the French authorities try to ignore or downplay the antisemitic character of the murder of Sarah Halimi, again by a Muslim'." In "Muslim Extremists Are Main Perpetrators of Antisemitic Violence in Western Europe, Major Norwegian Academic Study Concludes," by Ben Cohen, Algemeiner, 7 July 2019.   ^{[ 7 ]}

 

Addendum of Encouraging Terror Attacks:    "The recorded video released through the media wing of al-Qaeda shows an old and frail Ayman al-Zawahiri addressing his intended audience in Arabic. '(I am) of the view that the mujahideen (freedom fighters) in Kashmir – at this stage at least – should single-mindedly focus on inflicting unrelenting blows on the Indian Army and government, so as to bleed the Indian economy and make India suffer sustained losses in manpower and equipment', the English language daily The Times of India reported him as saying." In "Al-Qaeda Chief Tells Kashmiri Separatists to 'Bleed India Through Unrelenting Terror Attacks'," Sputnik News, 11 July 2019.

 

Addendum of Rape, Torture and Death:   "Christian and human rights groups reported over the last week that the 60-year-old Suzan Der Kirkour was found dead outside of her village, al-Yaqoubiyeh. According to the website of International Christian Concern (ICC), 'An autopsy revealed that Suzan was tortured and repeatedly raped over an estimated period of nine hours. She was then stoned to death'." In "Jihadists rape, stone Christian woman to death in Syria," by Benjamin Weinthal, Jerusalem Post, 17 July 2019.

 

Addendum from Canada:   "A 74-year-old Toronto man faces charges after allegedly yelling 'Heil Hitler' and accosting participants at a pro-Israel march." In "Toronto man accused of yelling anti-Semitic threats at Jewish event," Penticton Herald, British Columbia, 4 September 2019.   ^{[ 8 ]}

 

Addendum of an Ex-Taliban Commander's Islamophobia:   " 'My hope was for jihad, but I was wrong for 15 years. I knew I needed to leave at all costs. The Taliban was using Islam’s name, but that’s not what they were fighting for. Many orders came straight from Pakistan, and I realized they were destroying Afghanistan'." In "Fifteen years of regret: The ex-Taliban commander who now lives in hiding," by Stefanie Glinski, Los Angeles Times, 21 July 2019.

 

Addendum of Exploiting Women for Profit:   "As I walk around the market stalls surrounding the shrine, I notice the many 'marriage offices' dotted around the mosque, which are licensed to perform Sharia marriages. I’d received tips that some clerics here were performing short-term mutaa [pleasure] marriages, a practice – illegal under Iraqi law – whereby a men can pay for a temporary wife, with the officiating cleric receiving a cut. I was told that behind closed doors many of these clerics were using and abusing Sharia marriage laws to exploit women for profit. These men were grooming vulnerable girls and young women, trapping them into prostitution and pimping them out, all with seemingly total impunity." In "In Iraq, religious ‘pleasure marriages’ are a front for child prostitution," by Nawal Al-Maghafi, Guardian UK, 6 October 2019.

 

Addendum of Disillusionment with Jihadist Islam:    "Years of violence by the Islamic State jihadist group have left many disillusioned with Islam, while a much longer history of state oppression has pushed some in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region to see the millennia-old religion as a way of reasserting their identity. 'After Kurds witnessed the brutality of IS, many started to rethink their faith,' said Asrawan Qadrok, the faith's top priest in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region." In "Iraqi Kurds turn to Zoroastrianism as faith, identity entwine," France 24, 23 October 2019.

 

Addendum of Islam in Africa:    "Jihadist violence in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso has forced nearly 1 million people to flee their homes, destroyed fragile agricultural economies and hobbled humanitarian aid efforts, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday. Groups with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State, once confined to lawless areas of northern Mali, have in recent years spread across the arid scrublands of the Sahel, to the south of the Sahara, into Burkina Faso and Niger, stoking local ethnic conflicts and attacking security forces wherever they go. 'The world does not yet fully grasp the extent of the mounting humanitarian crisis in the central Sahel region,' said WFP spokesman Herve Verhoosel. 'If we do not act now to tackle hunger in the Sahel, a whole generation are at risk'." In "Jihadist violence putting 'generation at risk' in Africa’s Sahel: WFP," by Emma Farge and Juliette Jabkhiro, Reuters, 19 November 2019.

 

Addendum of a Saudi Mohammed:   "The suspect in a shooting that killed three people and injured several others at a naval base in Pensacola, Florida, on Friday morning was a member of the Saudi Air Force who was in the U.S. for training, officials said. Several law enforcement sources identified the gunman, who was killed in the incident, as Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani." In "Suspected shooter at Naval Air Station Pensacola was Saudi Air Force member," by Elisha Fieldstadt and Pete Williams, NBC News, 6 December 2019.    ^{[ 9 ]}

 

Addendum of Congolese Rebels:   "Rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces in some cases went door-to-door shooting their victims dead, according to a Congolese human rights group known by its French acronym, CEPADHO. The rebels have been trying to pit the civilian population against the army so that people demand the military action be stopped, said Omar Kavotha, president of the rights organization." In "43 dead in Congo after group with links to Islamic State go door-to-door in killing spree," by Associated Press via Indian Express, 16 December 2019.

 

Addendum of Pakistani Blasphemy Law:   "Pakistan's blasphemy laws have come under hefty criticism, as they have often been used to target minorities, activists, and to settle personal vendettas. Although no one has yet been executed under the laws, about 40 people are currently sitting on death row due to blasphemy convictions." In "Junaid Hafeez: Pakistani academic given death sentence for blasphemy," by Elizabeth Schumacher and Shamil Shams, Deutsche Welle, 21 December 2019.   ^{[ 10 ]}

 

Addendum from Somalia:   "At least 125 people were wounded, Aamin Ambulance service director Abdiqadir Abdulrahman said, and hundreds of Mogadishu residents donated blood in response to desperate appeals. President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed condemned the attack as a "heinous act of terror" and blamed the local al-Shabab extremist group, which is linked to al-Qaida and whose reach has extended to deadly attacks on luxury malls and schools in neighbouring Kenya." In "Somalia car bomb attack: At least 79 dead, 125 injured in blast during rush hour in Mogadishu," by Associated Press, 29 December 2019.

 

Addendum of Quetta Mosque Bombing:   "Quetta police chief Abdur Razzaq Cheema said another victim of the mosque bombing died of serious wounds in the city hospital raising the death toll to 15. He said two other victims were in critical condition. The Islamic State group said the attack a suicide bombing it had carried out targeting Afghan Taliban. The IS posted its claim on a IS Pakistan Telegram channel." In "IS claims Pakistan mosque bombing as death toll rises to 15," Associated Press, 11 January 2020.   ^{[ 11 ]}

 

Addendum from Asylum Seekers in Scotland:   "55 suspected members of the vile group were identified by officers, with 46 positively identified. All were asylum seekers from the Kurdish, Afghani, Egyptian, Moroccan, Turkish, Pakistani or Iraqi communities." In "Police Scotland took down large-scale asylum seeker grooming gang in Glasgow – but kept it secret," by Blair Meikle, Scottish Sun, 27 January 2020.

 

Addendum from a UK trial:   "The court heard that Mr Chowdhury had debated terrorism with his friends, telling one man that killing a soldier or police officer would be 'instant paradise innit'. When the friend said that he could not condone the murder of a pregnant woman or children, he replied: 'Allah answers it very clearly in the Quran.' Mr Chowdhury added: 'It's halal [permissible] because it is not sacred. if they're not Muslim then they're fair game'." In "Buckingham Palace sword attacker said killing pregnant women is 'fair game' if they weren’t Muslim, court hears," by Lizzie Dearden, Independent UK, 28 January 2020.

 

Addendum from France:   "After speaking about her sexuality she was called a 'dirty lesbian' by a Muslim commenter. In response, Mila posted an attack on Islam. 'I hate religion. The Koran is a religion of hate,' she said, before using stronger words to attack Islam. 'I am not racist. You cannot be racist towards a religion. I said what I thought, you're not going to make me regret it'." In "Mila: 'No regrets' for French teen targeted for criticising Islam," BBC, 4 February 2020.   ^{[ 12 ]}

 

Addendum from India and  Pakistan:   "In recent decades, as Pakistan's socio-economic status kept declining among the countries who had also gained freedom or were formed around the same time, the Ghazwa-e-Hind narrative became another one of the easy tools for Pakistani politicians to justify their policies and hide their failures. Even as Imran Khan has continued his hollow statements about peace and 'talks', many of his ministers have been betraying the real face of Pakistan's politics where radicalism, hatred against Hindus and India is all they have to show for 70 years of their existence." In "Pakistani ministers brazenly call for Jihad against India inside the Pakistan Assembly: Read details," OpIndia, 6 February 2020.

 

Addendum from Nigeria:   "Militant Islamist group Boko Haram and its offshoots have waged a brutal insurgency in Nigeria since 2009. About 35,000 people have been killed, more than two million have been left homeless and hundreds have been abducted in the conflict. Nigeria's government has repeatedly said that the militants have been defeated, but attacks continue." In "Nigeria militants burn to death motorists as they sleep in their cars," BBC 10 February 2020.

 

NOTES   [ 1 ]    The NY Times notes:   "Ten days before the bombings, a top Sri Lankan police official warned the security services that a radical Islamist group was planning suicide attacks against churches, but no action was taken against the group.  ...Sri Lanka does not have much history of Islamist terrorism. The country is predominantly Buddhist, with significant Hindu, Muslim and Christian minorities."  A takeaway from this observation is that the other faiths seem to more effectively Coexist than does Islam.   Islamic is the Adjective, Islam is the Root             "A radical Muslim terror group called National Thowheed Jamath was blamed Monday for the devastating suicide bombings that killed at least 290 and injured 500 in Sri Lanka. Cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne said that seven suicide bombers from the domestic group were behind the coordinated attacks — but insisted overseas terrorists likely helped." In "Islamic terrorist group National Thowheed Jamath blamed for Sri Lanka bombings," by Lee Brown, NY Post, 22 April 2019.           "The first reports of explosions came at about 08:45 local time with six blasts reported within a small space of time. Three churches in Negombo, Batticaloa and Colombo's Kochchikade district were targeted during Easter services. Blasts also rocked the Shangri-La, Kingsbury and Cinnamon Grand hotels in the country's capital." In "Sri Lanka attacks: 'International network' linked to bombings," BBC, 22 April 2019.           A day later, the death toll rises.  "The coordinated bombings on Sunday, targeting churches and hotels in and around the Sri Lankan capital, killed more than 320 people." In "ISIS claims Sri Lanka bombings that official says were 'retaliation' for New Zealand attack," CBS News, 23 April 2019.   A Blessed Attack, So Some Said. Really?             Other testimony:   " 'Those that carried out the attack that targeted members of the US-led coalition and Christians in Sri Lanka the day before yesterday are Islamic State group fighters,' IS propaganda agency Amaq said in a statement. The group gave the noms de guerre of seven people it claimed were behind the 'blessed attack' that targeted Christians during their 'blasphemous holiday'." In "Sri Lankan suicide bombers film themselves pledging allegiance to ISIS leader Al-Baghdadi before carrying out terror attack," by Tim Stickings and Dianne Apen-Sadler and George Martin, Mail Online, 23 April 2019.           Note the Islamic accusation that an attack is "blessed" and a Christian holiday is "blasphemous." These are root words of a theology defined by violence, its adjectives speaking clearly of such belief. Islamic belief.   Some Muslims Say These Muslims Were Not Muslims             Further some speculation:   " 'We believe one of the suicide bombers studied in the UK and then later on did his postgraduate in Australia, before coming back to settle in Sri Lanka'." In "Was Sri Lanka suicide bomber radicalised in BRITAIN? Authorities reveal terrorist studied in UK and how the 'middle-class' jihadists were 'well-educated and financially independent'," by Ed Riley, Mail Online, 24 April 2019.           A day later, some facts of Islamic consequence:   "After getting ejected from serving as imam of one mosque for his extremist views, Mr. Zaharan started a group in 2014 called National Thowheeth Jama’ath, which drew from the austere Wahhabi tradition that claims to follow the faith as practiced in the age of its founder, the Prophet Muhammad. Mr. Zaharan preached that the Sri Lankan national flag was a worthless piece of cloth, and that the country should be ruled by Shariah law — an unlikely outcome in a country where only about 10 percent of the population is Muslim." In "Sri Lankan Accused of Leading Attacks Preached Slaughter. Many Dismissed Him.," by Hannah Beech, New York Times, 25 April 2019.   Who and What Is Suspect?             More details are found:   "Mohamed Ibrahim, was arrested as police investigate those behind the attacks, police said. Ibrahim, a wealthy spice trader and pillar of the business community, had six sons and three daughters. He was admired by many who knew him. 'He was famous in the area for helping the poor with food and money. It's unthinkable his children could have done that,' Fazla said, glancing affectionately at her two young daughters. 'Because of what they have done, all Muslims are treated as suspects.' Ilham Ibrahim, 31, openly expressed extremist ideologies and had been involved in meetings of National Thowheed Jamath, a local Islamist group suspected of involvement in planning the attacks, according to the source close to the family." In "Blood brothers: the wealthy family behind Sri Lanka's suicide attacks," by Joe Brock, Shihar Aneez, and Ranga Sirilal, Reuters, 24 April 2019.           Thus, claims of income inequality and class warfare may be discounted. What remains to be considered? Islam as ideology, given especially that some Muslims speak against and some for such violence, supremacist stances, and all refer back to Islamic texts for sources.   Assurances of 'Probably' No Connection?             And yet, other representatives of Islam spoke:   "The ambassadors of more than a dozen Muslim countries – among them Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Iran – called on the archbishop, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith. 'We are very happy and thankful to the ambassadors of the Islamic countries for having coming here to express their solidarity with us,' Ranjith told local media after their meeting. He said the ambassadors had given their assurance that 'what has happened is not something political or religious; it is something that has been probably the result of some misguided people, and maybe there are other forces behind those misguided people, but they are not – no connection to Islam'." In "Sri Lanka Cardinal Says Muslim Envoys Assured Him Bombings Had ‘No Connection to Islam’," by Patrick Goodenough, Cybercast News, 25 April 2019.           One could well consider then what Islam even means, given that there are so many schisms speaking that they represent Islam while other divisions of Islam do not speak with representative voice. Whatever the perspective, it is clear that the Muslims who killed so many in Sri Lanka acted, as reported above, against a "blasphemous holiday" with their "blessed attack."   Martyred in Allah's Cause?             And yet the following is quite "Islamic:"   "Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, 'By Him in Whose Hands my life is! Were it not for some men amongst the believers who dislike to be left behind me and whom I cannot provide with means of conveyance, I would certainly never remain behind any Sariya' (army-unit) setting out in Allah's Cause. By Him in Whose Hands my life is! I would love to be martyred in Al1ah's Cause and then get resurrected and then get martyred, and then get resurrected again and then get martyred and then get resurrected again and then get martyred'." Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 52 Hadith 54.           How shall one then parse the conflicting data? By believing "assurances" or believing deeds motivated by specific words from a specific source?   Compare and Contrast             Contrasting words and deeds which may be said to be Islamic, one reads the counterpoint in this modern world:   "However, 'No matter what you have done to us, we love you, because we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,' Pastor Mahesan added. 'Jesus Christ on the Cross, he said: ‘Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.’ We also, who follow the footsteps of Jesus Christ, we say, for the Lord: ‘forgive these people'." In "Sri Lanka Pastor Forgives Bombers," Pakistan Christian Post, 29 April 2019.           The contrast seems stark. So how does something "Islamic" and "extreme" become welcome in a land? One reads in the aftermath a Sri Lankan Buddhist politician's view:   "MP Venerable Athuraliye Rathana Thero claims that three years ago intelligence officers had given the President a report regarding extremist group arming themselves and shootouts between these groups, but no action was taken out of fear of Muslim politicians. He made these comments during an event held today (10) for the launch of the Sri Lanka National Council’s five-point national plan to prevent the infiltration of Islamic State terrorism into the country." In "Fearing Muslim politicians, govt did not act on extremist groups - Rathana Thero," Ada Derana (Sri Lanka), 10 May 2019.           The Islamic component to the murderous violence is being identified.  " Sri Lanka is moving to curtail Saudi Arabian influence, after some politicians and Buddhist monks blamed the spread of the kingdom’s ultra-conservative Wahhabi school of Islam for planting the seeds of militancy that culminated in deadly Easter bomb attacks." In "Wahhabism confronted: Sri Lanka curbs Saudi influence after bombings," by Alexandra Ulmer and Omar Rajarathnam, Reuters, 5 July 2019.   Identifying Through Language             Thus, language alone clusters words together in identifying the murderous terrorism of the Easter attacks. "Islamic" and "Muslim" appear alongside "radical" and names including "Mohamed" and "Ibrahim," stewed with "Wahhabi" and "Shariah."   Assurances by Islamic ambassadors do not answer this cluster of Islamic terms by which the various news sources cited, except to allege that somehow all this "Islamic" vocabulary isn't "Islamic?   [ 2 ]    The report continues:  "Fulani militants have waged coordinated attacks on Nigeria’s most persecuted states. On March 4th, the jihadist group killed 23 Christian villagers with guns and machetes, and slaughtered approximately 30 people days prior Kaduna state. On March 11th, Islamic hardliners killed 52 Christians and burned at least 100 homes in villages in the Maro district of the Kajuru Local Government Area in Kaduna state. According to Christian Solidarity worldwide (CSW), witnesses reported the Fulani attacked in three groups — one setting fire to homes, another shooting villagers, and another designated to chase down those who tried to flee."           Similar tales are reported. One such:   "Christian charity Open Doors was informed that armed members of the terrorist organisation - that has pledged allegiance to IS - invaded the Christian community of Kuda near Madagali in Adamawa state, north east Nigeria on Monday. They then went door to door, killing as many as 25 people." In "Concern for Nigerian Christians: 'We are in danger; we have no one to fight for us'," by Eno Adeogun, Premier UK, 3 May 2019.           For such Islamic thought, one justification seems as good as another:   "In a statement, ISWAP said: 'We killed them as a revenge for the killings of our leaders, including Abu bakr al-Baghdadi and Abul-Hasan Al-Muhajir in Iraq and Syria'." In "Islamic State terrorists kill 11 Christian hostages on Christmas Day to 'avenge the deaths of their leaders in Iraq and Syria'," by Lara Keay, Mail Online, 26 December 2019.           And so the root of the adjective, Islamic, remains Islam. Islam is the source out of which so many justifications for "militancy" is dredged, even as Muslims attack Muslims, which may be seen when surveying the inane accusation of Islamophobia .   [ 3 ]   The "insurgency" of Islam's militants is often referred to in other terms, in attempts to parse Islam away from Islam, per the tenets of a postmodern West in which al cultures are somehow equal. But of Boko Haram, one reads further:   "UN refugee agency spokesman Babar Baloch told reporters in Geneva that recent fighting in Borno had forced more than 80,000 people to flee their homes. 'Nigerian refugees continue to arrive in very remote and impoverished communities in neighbouring countries', he added."   In "Boko Haram fear sees 30,000 flee Nigerian town: UN," Daily Nation, Kenya, 29 January 2019.   [ 4 ]   Therein one seems to find an overt supremacist mentality of some Muslims. Testimony from thoughts, words and deeds across the Islamic world speak to conquest through violence. Thus this small collection of news from various sources.   Buddhist Monuments - an Islamic Target?             "In January this year authorities in Sri Lanka seized a huge cache of explosives at Wanathawilluwa. It was said that this belonged to a module of the ISIS, who were attempting major blasts at historic Buddhist monuments. An imam and a maulvi were also arrested in connection with the incident. On April 11, the police got an input that terrorists would target 11 Churches in the country. It warned that Catholics would be the target of the attack. Moreover the serial bombings that rocked Colombo bear the signature of the Islamic State. The nation has been under the radar of the Islamic State for nearly three years now." In "Sri Lanka has seen a spike in Jihadi activity since 2017," by Vicky Nanjappa, One India, 21 April 2019.   Christians - an Islamic Target?             As to this supremacist mentality, rooted in Islamic theology specifically, one reads another April editorial view:   "We are living though one of the most serious phases of Christian persecution in history, and most people refuse to acknowledge it. During the past century, Christianity has been all but driven out of the Middle East, the place of its birth. This time last year I was in Damascus, visiting the Christian community there. On the front of the church that I went to on Sunday morning there was a huge mural depicting the horrors of the Armenian genocide. These Christians were originally refugees from Turkey, and had arrived there fleeing the most sustained and horrendous persecution. ...According to the widely respected Pew report, Christianity remains the world’s most persecuted religion. And the only reason for mentioning this so crassly in terms of league tables is simply that it serves to highlight the deafening silence of our response to it. From North Korea (OK, obviously) to China, and increasingly even in places such as India – all around the world Christians are subject to real and sustained violence for the profession of their faith, the one that we proclaim most insistently today." In "As the Sri Lanka attacks show, Christians worldwide face serious persecution," by Giles Fraser, Guardian UK, 21 April 2019.           Days later:   "Gunmen have opened fire on a church in northern Burkina Faso, killing at least six people, officials say. The attackers reportedly arrived on seven motorbikes at the end of Sunday's service and killed the pastor, two of his sons and three other worshippers." In "Burkina Faso: Christians killed in attack on church," BBC, 29 April 2019.          Further:   "Warda also claimed that many fear speaking out about the persecution of Christians because they do not want to be accused of Islamophobia. Share He accused Britain's Christian leaders of bowing to 'political correctness'. Warda added: 'Friends, we may be facing our end in the land of our ancestors. We acknowledge this. In our end, the entire world faces a moment of truth. 'Will a peaceful and innocent people be allowed to be persecuted and eliminated because of their faith? And, for the sake of not wanting to speak the truth to the persecutors, will the world be complicit in our elimination?' Bishop of Truro, the Rt Rev Philip Mounstephen, agreed with Warda, saying 'political correctness' has stopped people speaking out, and that it may also have something to do with 'a reluctance borne of post-colonial guilt'." In "Christians face EXTINCTION in Iraq after ISIS forced 125,000 to flee their homes, Archbishop warns," by Diane Apen-Sadler, MailOnline, 23 May 2019.   And the Islamic Lone Wolves Identified by their Allegiance?            Additionally:   "Alam allegedly praised al-Qaeda and ISIS over the course of 10 months of clandestine meetings with an undercover officer. According to court papers, Alam said the September 11th attacks were 'a complete success.' The 22-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant from Queens zeroed in on attacking New York City. Aslam said he wanted to use 'suicide vests' or AR-15 rifles in an attack on Times Square. He and the undercover agent went on several reconnaissance runs there. Alam said a successful attack would make them 'legends'." In "Man accused of planning attack on Times Square allegedly praised ISIS," by Vladimir Duthioers, CBS News, 7 June 2019.    "I will spill my blood for the victory of my religion"            As a parallel one reads:   "On or about April 20, 2019, ALOWEMER sent the UCE a self-authored Arabic 'nasheed' entitled, 'The Longing for Martyrdom' that appeared to be addressed to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS. An FBI linguist translated ALOWEMER's 'nasheed' as follows: The Longing for Martyrdom / The best news is when you call get ready for jihad. / Fight the enemy. O soldiers of Baghdadi. / I miss the people but do not know why. / I am waiting for paradise./ The love of martyrdom has inhabited my heart. / The land of jihad is what I wish for. / I wait for the taste of martyrdom. / I am focused on defeating the enemy. / Defeating the Shi'tes astounded me. / I long for the promise of Allah. / He promised me paradise. / He motivated me for martyrdom. / With worship he enlightened me. / O Baghdadi your soldiers are your swords in battle. / We are the letters of [ your name ] against your enemies. / I long for the land of the Caliphate. / I am expecting to raise the banner. / I will spill my blood for the victory of my religion." In "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. MUSTAFA MOUSAB ALOWEMER," Magistrate No. 19-1380, United States District Court, 18 June 2019.          An assertion in a New York courtroom links the theology of Islam to murder.  One reads of the essentially Islamic supremacist immigrant to the US:  " 'The orders issued here have nothing to do with me,' Saipov told Judge Vernon Broderick through an Uzbek interpreter. 'I am following orders of Allah, who gave me life.' The comments followed a hearing regarding jury selection ahead of the alleged ISIS militant’s trial for driving a truck down a crowded bike path on Halloween 2017, killing eight people." In "Accused bike-path terrorist Sayfullo Saipov tells judge he only answers to Allah," by Emily Saul, New York Post, 18 November 2019.          In another example, an "American" Muslim identifies his allegiance:   "Mostafa was among a handful of young Muslims from the U.S. who took high-visibility roles inside the al-Qaida-linked insurgent force, authorities said."    In "US man faces new terrorism charges, allegedly the highest-ranking citizen fighting overseas," by Eliott Spagat, Associated Press, 3 December 2019.   Which True Meaning?            The article cites the false trope so often offered.   "He was once president of the now-defunct Muslim Youth Council of San Diego, which said on its website that it was 'dedicated to showing the world that Islam is a religion of peace and Muslims are a peaceful and productive part of society.' Mostafa’s father, Halim Mostafa, a Kurdish Syrian, made a low-budget film, 'Mozlym,' that was released in 2008 and billed as an effort to show how the true meaning of Islam is often lost amid misconceptions of non-Muslims in America."          On an informative note:   " 'I do admit the guilt,' Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani, 60, said through an Arabic interpreter in Miami federal court." In " American Airlines mechanic pleads guilty to sabotaging plane at Miami International," by Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 18 December 2019.          Consider the many instances of such an Islamic Poor and lonely wolf . All are a matter of misconceptions of Islam?   Break the Cross and Witness Against Them             Among the aims of Islamic theology, one reads:   "Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Messenger (*) said, 'By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, surely (Jesus,) the son of Mary will soon descend amongst you and will judge mankind justly (as a Just Ruler); he will break the Cross and kill the pigs and there will be no Jizya (i.e. taxation taken from non Muslims). Money will be in abundance so that nobody will accept it, and a single prostration to Allah (in prayer) will be better than the whole world and whatever is in it.' Abu Huraira added 'If you wish, you can recite (this verse of the Holy Book): -- 'And there is none Of the people of the Scriptures (Jews and Christians) But must believe in him (i.e Jesus as an Apostle of Allah and a human being) Before his death. And on the Day of Judgment He will be a witness Against them.' Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 4, Book 55, Hadith 657.   [ 5 ]     For such from Muslim clerics, one reads as understandable opposition:   "Without violence of all types, Islam would undergo a slow death. Violence is in the fabric of this crooked ideology. Take away violence and you shut down the blood supply from the body of 'ISLAMS.' Islam is violent, not only against non-Muslims, but it is also violent against its own numerous sects and offshoots. Even within every sect and offshoot violence in the most savage ways is practiced. Just to name some examples: public lashing, cutting off hands for stealing even a morsel of bread, blinding convicts or hanging them, stoning so-called adulteresses, castrating sexual offenders and the hanging of homosexuals." In "Is Islam Inherently Violent?" by Amil Imani, Capitol Hill Outsider, 20 April 2019.           "Is Islam Inherently Violent?" asks an article's title. The many citations above answer it is.   Islam is Inherently Violent?             One might learn of other lands' experience, as this one attests:   "The Haouch Khemisti massacre took place before dawn on April 22, 1997 in the Algerian village of Haouch Mokhfi Khemisti (also spelled Boughelef Khemisti, Haouch Boughlef-Khemisti, Haouch Boukhelef-Khemisti, Haouch Boughfi el-Khemisti, Haouch Boughelaf, or Haouch Khmisti Bougara), some 25 km south of Algiers near Bougara. 93 villagers were killed in 3 hours, the bodies were found decapitated." In "Haouch Khemisti massacre," Wikipedia, n. d.           In another tale:  "Officials say at least 30 people were killed and 40 injured in the attack. Video halls are common across northern Nigeria. They are usually rudimentary buildings where people pay a small fee to watch football matches or films. ....Boko Haram has targeted them on several occasions, saying they are un-Islamic." In "Nigeria: 'Children used' as suicide bombers in Borno attack," BBC, 18 June 2019.   Sunan an-Nasa'i 4061, Vol. 5, Book 37, Hadith 4066, and 4067             To exemplify a longer arch of history, beyond a snapshot above, Wikipedia handily notes the range of Algerian massacres throughout 1997, each  "in which over 50 people were killed:"   "Thalit massacre, 3–4 April; Haouch Khemisti massacre, 21 April; Daïat Labguer (M'sila) Massacre,16 June; Si-Zerrouk massacre, 27 July; Oued El-Had and Mezouara massacre, 3 August, Souhane massacre, 20–21 August; Beni-Ali massacre, 26 August; Rais massacre, 29 August; Beni-Messous massacre, 5–6 September; Guelb El-Kebir massacre, 19 September; Bentalha massacre, 22 September; Sid El-Antri massacre , 23–24 December," all in all a lot of massacres, one concludes.   "The followers of Muhammed will conquer America?"             Another example among the many:   "...Sunni extremists carried out high-profile bombings of Iraqi Shi'ite sites during the worst of the country's sectarian violence after the U.S. invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003. Baghdad's security improved significantly with the defeat of Islamic State in 2017 and bomb attacks of any kind in the city have been rare since then." In "Friday blast at Shi'ite mosque in Baghdad wounds several - police sources," Swiss Info, 22 June 2019.           Thus per the graphic just above and as throughout centuries, "followers of Muhammed" attack even other "followers of Muhammed" as apostates.           But is Islam inherently violent, one asks sarcastically?   One reads an Islamic source.  "Narrated by Abu Huraira. Allah 's Apostle said, 'I have been ordered to fight with the people till they say, 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah,' and whoever says, 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah,' his life and property will be saved by me except for Islamic law, and his accounts will be with Allah, (either to punish him or to forgive him.)' " Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 52, Number 196.           From the parlance of modern political understanding, this is plainly supremacist, and an inverse of the softer slogan of Coexist .   Individual Instances, Gathered Together             As a small example of the effect of the encouragement of violence within Islamic doctrine, one reads:   "Mark Steven Domingo, 26, a U.S. Army infantryman who recently converted to Islam, was taken into custody on Friday after undercover FBI operatives furnished him with what he thought were live bombs to be used in the attack, law enforcement officials said. Authorities said Domingo, who had no prior criminal record, came to their attention because of a series of violent extremist messages he posted in online chat rooms, one of which called for 'retribution' for the massacre of 50 people at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, by a gunman in March." In "U.S. Army veteran charged with plotting to bomb white nationalist rally," by Dan Whitcomb, Steve Gorman, Reuters, 29 April 2019.           Another example in which Islamic vocabulary tells its tale:   "The informant suggested during one meeting that Sadiqullah and others — who were mad at someone they believed had cheated them in a business deal — meet with Shalash at a mosque on Armstrong Mill Road 'in order for Shalash to provide a 'fatwa' authorizing the killing.' A fatwa is an Islamic legal pronouncement issued by an expert in religious law, according to The Islamic Supreme Council of America. Sadiqullah and Shalash agreed with the informant, Jackson said in his sworn statement." In "Kentucky Islamic leader, 2 others charged in murder-for-hire plot over business deal, debt," by Bill Estep, Lexington Herald-Examiner, 13 May 2019.           Such singular events magnify into many events, as one sees in A European report:  "The greatest majority (1703 people, 91 %) were victims of "jihadi terror,' with about 20% from suicide bombings."  The original:    "La très grande majorité (1.703 personnes, 91,1%) ont été victimes du "terrorisme djihadiste", avec près de 20% d'attentats suicide." In "Publication d'un «livre blanc et noir du terrorisme en Europe»," Le Figaro, 3 March 2019.           Britain makes the connection:  "The pull of this propaganda is startling: of the plots thwarted by police and MI5 and our Western allies in 2018, 80 per cent were conducted by people inspired by the ideology of IS but who had never actually been in contact with it in Syria or Iraq. We also know that, despite their losses, IS's remaining members are intent on directing terrorist attacks around the world, including on European soil. And this ambition is shared by al Qaeda, whose desire and capability to attack the West hasn’t diminished while IS has been in the spotlight." In "We at MI5 can't beat the terror threat alone — let's all work together," by Andrew Parker, Evening Standard UK, 3 May 2019.   For Allah?             Also in the United States, one finds expression of violent Islam as well:   "Disturbing footage of Muslim kids saying they would sacrifice themselves and kill for the 'army of Allah' surfaced from an Islamic center in Philadelphia. The Muslim American Society (MAS) Islamic Center in Philadelphia posted the video to its Facebook page celebrating 'Ummah Day' in which young children wearing Palestinian scarves sang and read poetry about killing for Allah and the mosque in Jerusalem." In "Shocking video of children in Philadelphia Muslim Society: 'We will chop off their heads' for Allah," by Caleb Parke, Fox News, 4 May 2019.           Assurances to the contrary, the number of incidences of Islamist violence and "jihadi terror" suggest clear connections between words and deeds. Vocabulary itself identifies, and therefore testifies alongside deeds.           For this evidence which amasses over time, one finds the Sri Lankan government responding to "Islam:" as one reads:  "Sri Lanka has expelled over 600 foreign nationals, including around 200 Islamic clerics, since the Easter suicide bombings blamed on a local jihadi group, a minister told AFP Sunday. Home Affairs Minister Vajira Abeywardena said the clerics had entered the country legally, but amid a security crackdown after the attacks were found to have overstayed their visas, for which fines were imposed and they were expelled from the island." In "Sri Lanka expels 200 Islamic clerics after Easter attacks," Daily Mirror, 6 May 2019.           Simple grammar. The adjective describes a certain ideology and therefore its adherents in an unequivocal manner. Islamic.   What is Islamic?             Some say not. But one reads:   "Moderate Muslims do denounce violence that is committed in the name of Islam, very much so, but they deny that religion plays any role in that violence. The very first thing you will hear from the mouth of a moderate typically after an act of violence committed in the name of Islam is, please don't misunderstand, Islam has nothing to do with this. But that's not true, because those who are committing the violence cite Islam as their inspiration." In "Head to Head, Interview with Irshad Manji," Mehdi Hasan, Al Jazeera, 12 May 2016.           Denying a religious component to many violent events also denies Mohammed, who "...reportedly 'had such a repugnance to the form of the cross that he broke everything brought into his house with its figure upon it,' wrote one historian (Sword and Scimitar, p. 10). Muhammad also claimed that at the end times, Jesus (the Muslim 'Isa') himself would make it a point to 'break the cross.' Modern-day Muslim clerics confirm this. When asked about Islam's ruling on whether any person — in this case, Christians — is permitted to wear or pray before the cross, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Tarifi, a Saudi expert on Islamic law, said, 'Under no circumstances is a human permitted to wear the cross,' nor 'is anyone permitted to pray to the cross.' Why? 'Because the prophet — peace and blessings on him — commanded the breaking of it [the cross].' Islamic history is a reflection of these sentiments." In "Islam's War on the Christian Cross," by Raymond Ibrahim, American Thinker, 7 June 2019.   Allah Describes non-Muslims as People of No Intelligence?             The interviewer in the Al Jazera article above seemed to resist the statement by a reformer, but one reads of Hasan:   "During a sermon delivered in 2009, quoting a verse of the Quran, Hasan said to an audience: 'The kuffar, the disbelievers, the atheists who remain deaf and stubborn to the teachings of Islam, the rational message of the Koran; they are described in the Koran as 'a people of no intelligence', Allah describes them as not of no morality, not as people of no belief – people of 'no intelligence' – because they're incapable of the intellectual effort it requires to shake off those blind prejudices, to shake off those easy assumptions about this world, about the existence of God. In this respect, the Koran describes the atheists as 'cattle', as cattle of those who grow the crops and do not stop and wonder about this world." In "Mehdi Hasan," under "2009 Islamic Unity Society sermon," Wikipedia, n. d.           One notes the confusion, as "God" is conceived in different ways by different people, and a reformer like Manji remains devout towards Allah, though far differently that Hasan who uses Islamic words like "kuffar" to polarize religious sentiments, speaking of "disbelievers." If "kuffar" is Islamic vocabulary, then so is violence as "jihad" explained "in the name of Islam." What is Islamic then? Some kinds of terror?   Allah on the Side of the National Socialists and Italian Fascists?             One looks back into the mid-20th century for such "Islamic" examples:   "On Mar. 19, 1942, the ex-Mufti of Jerusalem spoke to the Arab world by Rome radio and said: 'If, God forbid, America and her allies are victorious in this war . . . then the world will become hell, God forbid. But Allah is too just and merciful to grant such murderous violators any victory.' After a long struggle and supreme sacrifices, the 'murderous violators' became victors. They entered Germany while the ex-Mufti was still there with the bags of gold he had received from Hitler. He escaped to Switzerland, was expelled from there back to Germany, was captured by the French army and placed under house arrest; then he escaped from France to Cairo on a false passport, and became the head of the Arab Higher Committee." In "Ex-Mufti, Criminal Ally," Observer, New York Post, 23 February 1948.   Islamic Terror According to Islam?             Continuing with an Islamic source:   "Narrated by Abu Huraira. Allah's Apostle said, "I have been sent with the shortest expressions bearing the widest meanings, and I have been made victorious with terror (cast in the hearts of the enemy), and while I was sleeping, the keys of the treasures of the world were brought to me and put in my hand.' Abu Huraira added: Allah's Apostle has left the world and now you, people, are bringing out those treasures (i.e. the Prophet did not benefit by them)." Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 52, Number 220.           Continuing:  "Then they surrendered, and the apostle confined them in Medina in the quarter of d. al-Harith, a woman of B. al-Najjar. Then the apostle went out to the market of Medina (which is still its market today) and dug trenches in it. Then he sent for them and struck off their heads in those trenches as they were brought out to him in batches. Among them was the enemy of Allah Huyayy b. Akhtab and Ka`b b. Asad their chief. There were 600 or 700 in all, though some put the figure as high as 800 or 900. As they were being taken out in batches to the apostle they asked Ka`b what he thought would be done with them. He replied, 'Will you never understand? Don't you see that the summoner never stops and those who are taken away do not return? By Allah it is death!' This went on until the apostle made an end of them." Ibn Ishaq, p 464.   Islam Violently Against Islam?             From centuries later, one reads:   " 'This is the largest mass execution of Shiites in the kingdom’s history,' he said. Amnesty International also confirmed the majority of those executed were Shiite men. The rights group said they were convicted 'after sham trials' that relied on confessions extracted through torture." In "Saudi Arabia beheads 37 for terrorism crimes, most of them minority Shiites," CNBC, 24 April 2019.           To underscore this violent reality, the CNBC article includes:   "The Interior Ministry said the body of one of the executed men -- Khaled bin Abdel Karim al-Tuwaijri -- was publicly pinned to a pole. The statement did not say in which city of Saudi Arabia the public display took place."           A little litany in the month of April says yes, Islam from its inception was and remains inherently violent. "By Allah it is death."  The non-Islamic world may reflect on this, when the less informed in its midst lobby for their perspective about The religion of peace .           And the picture becomes more complicated:   "Some Muslims mark the day with the practice of Tatbir, in which a sword or scourge is used to draw blood in remembrance of the innocent blood of Husayn. Many who take part in the practice believe it cleanses them of their sins. A popular saying among Shia Muslims has it that 'a single tear shed for Husayn washes away a hundred sins'. The ritual, which is sometimes carried out on children, is controversial within the Muslim world, with some research suggesting it can cause lasting psychological damage." In "SHOW OF FAITH Ashura festival sees children left covered in blood as devout Muslims use knives to slice their heads open," by Christy Cooney, Sun UK, 10 September 2019.   [ 6 ]    The article notes:   "It also suggested action against the nikkah registrar, Muhammad Ali, and police officials such as the DSP, SHO and investigation officer of the police station in whose jurisdiction the crime occurred."           As to the Islamic term, one reads:  "This page references and quotes numerous scholarly and/or reliable sources that define or describe the Arabic term nikah (or the root n-k-h) as meaning 'sexual intercourse', or the contract of sexual intercourse, or marriage as a contract for sexual intercourse (for the payment received by the bride for nikah...." In "The Meaning of Nikah," WikiIslam, n. d.   Abduction, Rape and Marriage as Islamic?             This addendum seems a singular incident. Yet one reads further:   "It starts with the abduction of these Hindu girls by Muslim men who are often married. They keep the girls in their custody, rape them and then force them to convert to Islam before marrying them. "There is not even one case in which anyone has willingly converted. These men, who are often already married, kidnap the girls, keep them in their custody, rape them, and through threats and intimidation make the girls say they converted willingly," according to Dr Vankwani, patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council. Forced conversions and underage marriages of girls are common in Tharparkar and Umerkot districts of Sindh where almost 50% of the population is Hindu. Such incidents, however, are rarely reported in the media." In "Muslim men abduct, rape, then marry Hindu girls from impoverished families in Sindh: Pak legislator Vankwani," by Omer Farooq Khan, Times of India, 16 April 2019.   Banning Forced Conversions is Anti-Islamic?             And from two years earlier, one reads:  "Every year, Muslim men abduct and forcibly convert about 1,000 girls — mostly Hindus, but also Christians, according to the South Asia Partnership-Pakistan, a local human rights group. About 5,000 Pakistani Hindus leave every year for neighboring India — where 80% are Hindus — to escape religious persecution, according to the Pakistan Hindu Council. Legislation banning such conversions for those under age 18 was passed unanimously late last year by the legislature in the southern province of Sindh, where the Kohlis live, but it never went into effect. Hard-line Islamic groups objected to the measure, which called for up to five years in jail for those who force a conversion. They threatened protests, arguing the law was anti-Islamic and part of a conspiracy to make Pakistan a secular country." In "Pakistani Hindus lose daughters to forced Muslim marriages," by Naila Inayat, USA Today, 15 February 2017.           Considering many such stories of abduction of non-Muslim women for "marriage," the problem for Islam worldwide is quite the same as the other issues mentioned above, wherein some Muslims allege Islamic texts mean one thing while other Muslims allege the texts mean something else, sometimes quite the opposite.   Citing Examples?             Following the "blessed attacks" on Catholics in Sri Lanka, one reads an "Islamic" justification:   "In the video, after a cursory mention about the victims, Maulvi Munajit cites an example from the life of Muhammed to justify the terror attack. Maulvi is heard saying that the attack is a consequence of Muslims losing their patience. He cites the example of Mohammed who kept quiet for the first 13 years of Islam despite intense persecution from Quraysh people but then launched the battle of Badr. Maulvi also had said in the video that to build an Islamic state is just thing and the struggle has just commenced for that." In "SL Police Launch Operation To Arrest Islamic Cleric Munajit Who Released A Video Clip Justifying Easter Terror Attack," by Swarajya Staff 26 April 2019.   India             From another corner of the world:  "...Salim said in his interrogation that his victims included men, women and children. Investigations were on to find out more about his crimes. A source said that Salim never repented for such serial murders of 250 like that and he claimed those as a grace of Almighty Allah that he could be able to decrease some numbers of Kaffirs (infidels) to establish India as an Islamic State." In "Muslim Taxi Driver admits to 250 murders of Non-Muslims around Meerut," by Jolly Sharma, HENB, 3 June 2019.   Burkina Faso             Yet another selected from many examples:   "A security source said 19 bodies had been found and a search was underway for others. Hours before the attack, armed men had stopped three vehicles in Arbinda and set fire to them, killing one of the drivers, the source said. Arbinda has witnessed a spate of jihadist violence in recent months despite stepped-up security operations. In April, 62 people were killed in jihadist attacks and ensuing ethnic clashes, and four people travelling by car were ambushed and killed. Burkina Faso has suffered from increasingly frequent and deadly attacks attributed to a number of jihadist groups, including the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM) and Islamic State in the Greater Sahara." In "Nineteen killed in Burkina Faso's volatile north," Ouagadougou, France 24, 10 June 2019.   England             And:  "Kotey, who was raised in Ladbroke Grove, West London, claims he 'hit the streets with a vengeance' when he left school, apparently blaming his background for his conversion to extremism. During a chilling interview, Kotey claimed he had a new-found cynicism towards ISIS but said he was 'grateful' for his time in the group because it led to his union with a jihadi bride. The former petty crook also admitted physically tormenting western prisoners before his pal Jihadi John beheaded them." In " ‘ISIS Beatles’ terrorist demands family be allowed to live in UK - ‘I am British!’ by Chris Hughes, Express UK, 18 June 2019.   Nigeria             " Police in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna have rescued more than 300 male students, most of them children and some of them in chains, from an Islamic school where many had been tortured and sexually abused, a police spokesman said Friday. Officers raided a building in the Rigasa area of the city on Thursday where the victims including adults and minors were kept in 'the most debasing and inhuman conditions in the name of teaching them the Koran and reforming them', Kaduna state police spokesman Yakubu Sabo told AFP. Among those rescued were 'around 100 students including children as young as nine in chains stuffed in a small room all in the name of reforming them and making them responsible persons', Sabo said." In "Nigeria frees more than 300 ‘abused’ students from Islamic School," France 24 with AFP, Reuters, 27 September 2019.           Issues obviously arise. Are "hard-line Islamic groups" Islamic?  Are assurances from other Islamic nations equally "Islamic" yet opposite?  Who speaks for Islam, when Islam seems to speak against itself, through the opposing stances of Muslims? Whose clerics speak for Islam and which clerics are false according to other Muslims? And why? What are the foundations for these various "Islamic" groups if not "Islamic?"   Islam in Pakistan and Afghanistan             The Pakistani prime minister complains of the identification:   "Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday asserted that Islam has nothing to do with terrorism. 'No one ever blamed Hinduism for Tamil Tigers' bombings or Japanese religion when they blew up themselves on US ships. So why Islam is branded so?' Khan said during the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Makkah. He, however, asserted that 'the Muslim world has not been able to powerfully convince the world that Islam has nothing to do with terrorism,' adding that the OIC should clarify its 'propaganda' about Muslims." In "Hinduism not blamed for LTTE bombings, then why link Islam to terrorism: Imran Khan," ANI, Economic Times, 1 June 2019.           Nothing to do with terrorism?  One might ask Shia Muslims in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as one reads:  "Sunni Muslim militants, including the Taliban and the Islamic State group, have repeatedly targeted Shia Hazara minorities in Afghanistan and Pakistan." In "Afghanistan: Bomb rips through wedding in Kabul," BBC, 17 August 2019.           And from a Syrian camp for "displaced" family of ISIS militants:   "When the journalist suggests that the boy might want to be a doctor instead, the youngster insists: 'No, inghimasi'. Asked what the suicide fighters do, the boy says: 'They kill'. The al-Hol camp houses tens of thousands of displaced people including relatives of ISIS fighters and security fears have been on the rise." In "Young boy at Syrian jihadi camp is filmed declaring he wants to join ISIS, kill 'infidels' and become a lethal 'inghimasi' suicide fighter," by Tim Stickings, Mail Online, 3 October 2019.   Islam Against Islam             More murderousness of Muslim against Muslim as the Taliban are suspected:  "Multiple explosions at a mosque in eastern Afghanistan collapsed the roof on worshippers during Friday prayers, killing at least 62 and wounding more than 100, officials said." In "Blasts collapse roof at Afghan mosque, killing at least 62 at Friday prayers," by Abdul Qadir Sediqi and Ahmad Sultan, Reuters, 18 October 2019.   Islam Against Europe             The urge of murderousness is all too easily found in Islam. One reads:  "During his trial at a heavily-fortified courtroom, Jawed S. said he travelled to the Netherlands from Germany to 'protect the Prophet Mohammed'." In "Afghan who stabbed two American tourists in Amsterdam 'to protect the Prophet Mohammed' is jailed for 26 years," by Ryan Fahey, Mailonline, 14 October 2019.           The many sourced quotes above find many identifying murderous acts with Islam, with Koranic texs and with citations from the Sunnah and hadiths, as well as reference to various divisions within Islam itself.   Islam Is Identified for Every Free-Thinking Human Being             Thus a rhyme -- as above -- may note that "Islam is identified, / has its problem with the world, / is connected with words for all to read, / and / seems explosive in thought, word and deed."           One might then ponder what it portends for Islam either as a singular ideology or set of conflicting ideologies to Coexist with other religions and cultures.           One reads an Islamic reformer's view:   "...one of the biggest misnomers ever to have come about in recent years. Islamophobia includes within it hatred of Muslims as a people and criticizing and scrutinizing Islam as a religion, which is the right of every free-thinking human being anywhere in the world." In "Maajid Nawaz Wants The Word 'Islamophobia' Scrapped, Here's Why," LBC, 31 May 2018.   Palestinian Corruption in the Modern Day             Then there is the modern case of an Islamic movement, corrupt enough to drive Muslims away:   " 'If Hamas gave up power, there would be no problems,' he said, calling Hamas 'a racist terrorist organization that is dangerous for the Palestinian people.' Yousef also expressed anger and revulsion at the behavior of senior Hamas members in Turkey, who live in luxury at the expense of the Palestinian people. 'Hamas senior officials live in fancy hotels and luxury buildings, their kids are in private schools. They're paid generously by Hamas, earning between $4,000 to $5,000 a month. They have security guards, swimming pools and country clubs. They eat in high-end restaurants, paying $200 for one course, while a family in Gaza lives on $100 a month'." In "Second 'son of Hamas' defects, exposes corruption," by Sara Rubenstein, Arutz Sheva, 5 July 2019.   Islam Is Being Scrutinized             In that regard, Islam is identified in part in the UK, as one reads:   "NPCC chair Martin Hewitt said: 'We take all reports of hate crime very seriously and will investigate them thoroughly; however, we have some concerns about the proposed definition of ‘Islamophobia' made by the All-Party Parliamentary Group [APPG] on British Muslims. 'We are concerned that the definition is too broad as currently drafted, could cause confusion for officers enforcing it and could be used to challenge legitimate free speech on the historical or theological actions of Islamic states. There is also a risk it could also undermine counterterrorism powers, which seek to tackle extremism or prevent terrorism'." In "Proposed Islamophobia definition 'would undermine counterterror operations and threaten free speech', police tell prime minister," by Lizzie Dearden, Independent UK, 16 May 2019.           And one can ponder whether one or many, including individual Muslims and entire Muslim nations, are all essentially guilty of the ginned-up offence of Islamophobia .           It would have been wholly rational -- no phobia which is an irrational fear -- for the Sri Lankan Catholics to have feared the "Islamic" National Thowheed Jamath, as one example among many. So many, and by them one may well argue that "Islam is identified."           It is Islam which must sort itself out, not non-Islamic peoples and cultures, and not through slogans like Islamophobia. How Islam may do that is as yet unseen and not foreseen.   [ 7 ]   The Norwegian study cited observes: "Attitude surveys indicate that antisemitism is considerably more widespread among Muslims in Western Europe than among the general population, but they also suggest that adherence to Islam in itself does not explain all of the difference. Country of origin appears to play a major role, as does the level of religiosity—the more religious people are, the more antisemitic they are likely to be. One study found that anti-Jewish attitudes were most strongly associated with the respondents' general intolerance of out-groups." In "Antisemitic Violence in Europe, 2005-2015 Exposure and Perpetrators in France, UK, Germany, by Johannes Due Enstad, Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX), University of Oslo, June 2017.   A photographic reminder of the Mufti reviewing Nazi troops in WWII             Paying attention to the distinctions, "the more religious" identifies those who observe the tenets as expressed above from Islamic texts, and then act on them to "perpetrate" violence of an anti-Semitic character, as the last century has proved in well-documented sources.   [ 8 ]    One reads further:   "On May 20, 2019, Ali Amirsalam was filmed shouting, 'Hitler, please come back and kill all the Jews – not 100%, but 90% of them' outside the 2019 Toronto Walk with Israel hosted by the United Jewish Appeal (UJA) in North York, Ont. B’nai Brith Canada filed a complaint with the Toronto Police Service shortly afterward. Amirsalam also made his own recording of his outburst and uploaded a video of it to Twitter, adding an antisemitic screed demanding that money be taken away from Jews and 'be given to the poorer children of G-d.' He also posted a video of an Israeli flag being burned, and called for 'No more Israel on the planet earth'." In "Toronto Man Charged after Threatening Walk with Israel Participants," B'nai Brith Canada, 3 September 2019.           Given the imagery from the footnote above, with the Mufti of Jerusalem reviewing troops during World War II, the sentiment expressed by Amirsalam more than seventy years later identifies Islam's anti-Jewish stance.           The dark irony of all the above and so much more is that even Islam is Islamophobic, as is easily remonstrated in a sad, simple rhyme, sourced addenda and footnotes:  Islamophobia .   [ 9 ]     A message from this Mohammed is reported:   "According to the Middle East Media Research Institute, someone matching the shooter's identity had an online footprint, including a Twitter post that criticized America's support for Israel. 'O American people - I'm not against you for being American, I don't hate you because your freedoms, I hate you because every day you supporting, funding and committing crimes not only against Muslims but against humanity,' the post read. 'What I see from America is the supporting of Israel which is invasion of Muslim countrie (sic), I see invasion of many countries by it's troops, I see Guantanamo Bay. I see cruise missiles, cluster bombs and UAV'." In "Saudi aviation student opens fire at Florida Naval base, killing 3," by Audrey McNamara, CBS News, 6 December 2019.           As to this modern Saudi murderer Mohammed, now dead, one finds that he "...retweeted tweets from Mutairi, which called for 'jihad' against American and Israeli 'crusaders.' 'His retweets and likes in general heavily favored religious accounts that advocated for jihad and defended jihadists who proselytized against both the West and Western-allied Muslim governments alike,' the report said. According to the report, Alshamrani had used his now-defunct Twitter account to endorse radical Islam and terrorism, rail against America and Israel, and express support for the Afghan Taliban." In "Saudi Air Force officer who killed three US sailors at Pensacola naval station retweeted hate preacher's call for 'jihad' against American 'crusaders' years before his attack in series of tweets supporting terror," by Ralph Ortega and Snejana Farberov, Daily Mail, 11 December 2019.     Bring Them With Chains On Their Necks             An earlier Mohammed's view:  Narrated Abu Huraira: The Verse:-- "You (true Muslims) are the best of poples ever raised up for mankind," means, the best of peoples for the people, as you bring them with chains on their necks till they embrace Islam." Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 6, Book of Prophetic Commentary on the Qur'an, Hadith 80.           Muslims fight Muslims and where Western nations as well as Russia and China contend with Muslims against Muslims, the "hate" of this Mohammed is expressed with murderous violence, consistent with centuries of Islamic violence against others as against themselves in sectarian clashes. Hate? It seems quite Islamic, as one surveys all the sourced material above. Islam is identified, and even other Muslims are taking notice.           A world of many different peoples from many different nations and many different religions are learning more about The religion of peace .   [ 10 ]    This is Islam. Period.   Abu Abdul Bari             But then, this is Islam also, as one reads:   "He put the fat in fatwa. A morbidly obese ISIS fanatic dubbed 'Jabba the Jihadi' has been captured by Iraqi forces — who loaded him onto a flatbed truck because he couldn’t fit in a police car. The 560-pound mufti Abu Abdul Bari, also known as Shifa al-Nima, was nabbed Thursday by an elite SWAT team of the Nineveh regiment in the city of Mosul, according to Stars and Stripes." In " ISIS leader dubbed ‘Jabba the Jihadi’ captured in Iraq," by Yaron Steinbuch, New York Post, 17 January 2020.   [ 11 ]  As another example of Islam, one "Islamic" group targets another "Islamic" group murderously. What is at the root of this? The underlying ideology is an answer, some apologists attempt to reject while others attempt to explain through sectarian, denominational lenses.           In the case of some apologists, the attempt is to point away from Islam itself. In the case of others, it is so point to Islam, but only that within Islam which might seek to lessen the harsher reality. Islam is contained in books with confusion enough that sects within Islam have battled one another murderously for centuries.           So Islam is indentified.           For this one reads:   "...considering the example of Muhammad and the teachings of both Quran and hadiths, there is no right interpretation of Islam. (I have been saying something similar for at least a decade, although I do think some Islamic sects are peaceful. See any number of posts on my website, this article, this more recent one, and my book Sects, Lies, and the Caliphate.) I asked her, 'Is it even possible to be a moderate Muslim?' Her response: 'Yes, but only culturally. The people who want to 'reform' Islam say 'we're going to get out the violence and reject jihad and misogyny and homophobia and antisemitism.' But then you have to go to the Qur'an and edit those out of that book.' In addition, 'there are so many hadiths, especially in the [collection of] al-Bukhari, that talk about how jihad is more valuable than prayer, and that you can’t have an ummah [community] without the caliphate.' A moderate Islam would just 'have some holidays and that's it.' 'Islam is just such a horrible ideology. I want to get a black dog.' Why? 'Just because Muhammad was so afraid of them'." in "Radicalized by the Quran? A Former ISIS Wife Shares Her Story," by Timothy Furnish, Stream, 11 January 2020.           Further testimony abounds, for those who would see and read.   [ 12 ]   Therein lies the game. "You cannot be racist towards a religion."  To assert that critiquing a religion is racist makes the Koran itself racist, as Islam's central text condemns other religions.           One reads:   "The Jews say, 'Ezra is the son of Allah'; and the Christians say, 'The Messiah is the son of Allah .' That is their statement from their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved [before them]. May Allah destroy them; how are they deluded?" Sura 9:30. Sahih International.           Both statements, as regards Jews and Christians, are incorrect. Nevertheless Islam's central text pleads that "Allah destroy them" for being "deluded."  Islam self-identifies.

 

 

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Never judge a book? - how to act the schnook

I bought, oh the cover of the book,
Most likely for its outward look.
Appearance seemed to give it zing
But inside read a limping thing.

I bought the image of a thought,
Which haphazardly I'd caught.
Reality came to rip it away,
Its made-up smile dissolved that day.

I bought a box bright wrapped and sealed;
The contents something else revealed.
Judge never by appearance, friend,
But by how things both begin and end.

 

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Wide privy ledge

If one sits on one's wide privy ledge,
                    To rest on one's laurels,
There a chance someone will allege
That position has started most quarrels.

That wide privy ledge is necessarily found
                    When such a ledge is needed;
Therapists, activists and lawyers too
Sit when their pressure's exceeded.

Let's wipe away what once was started
                    By squatting on that ledge,
And stand to deliver with noxious intent
A halo-polishing pledge.

Let's all think as our betters wish
                    While pondering upon an edge,
And evacuate as one so must,
Lingering on one's wide privy ledge.

 

Addendum of Blasting Toxic Culture:   "At the encouragement of my therapist, I hired a workplace discrimination attorney to assist me in negotiating an exit package. My lawyer was informed that CBS doesn’t give compensation to employees wishing to exit the company. After some back and forth, CBS offered me $20,000 and later $50,000. It isn’t clear if I would have been asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement, but I assumed so. After considering the offer at length, with encouragement from my husband I determined that my integrity and the power of my voice and experience were worth more than any dollar CBS was willing to part with." In " ‘CBS Has a White Problem’: Executive Blasts Toxic Culture at Network in Explosive Letter," by Whitney Davis, Variety, 23 April 2019.     ^{[ 1 ]}

 

Addendum of Shutting Down White People:   "The DNC held a forum for candidates hoping to become chairman of the Democratic National Committee on Monday at George Washington University. One candidate, Sally Boynton Brown, the executive director of Idaho's Democratic Party, urged Democrats to provide 'training' to teach people to be 'sensitive' and 'how to shut their mouths if they are white.' 'My job is to shut other white people down when they want to interrupt, 'Brown said."   In "DNC Chair Candidate: My Job Is To Tell White People When To Shut Their Mouths," by Tim Hains, RealClearPolticis, 24 January 2017.

 

Addendum of Seeing the Unseen Problem:    "The biggest problem with white privilege is the invisibility it maintains to those who benefit from it most. The inability to recognize that many of the advantages whites hold are a direct result of the disadvantages of other people, contributes to the unwillingness of white people, even those who are not overtly racist, to recognize their part in maintaining and benefiting from white supremacy." In "What is white privilege?" Mount Holyoke College, n. d.    ^{[ 2 ]}

 

Addendum of Counting a Generally Unseen Problem:    "According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, white men, who the Left argues are the most privileged group of all in America, commit seven out of every ten suicides in America — even though only three out of ten Americans are white males. Whatever reason one gives for the white suicide rate, it is indisputable that, at the very least, considerably more whites than blacks consider life not worth living. To argue that all these whites were oblivious to all the unique privileges they had is to stretch the definition of 'privilege' beyond credulity." In "The Fallacy of 'White Privilege',"  by Dennis Prager, National Review, 16 February 2016.  
 

Addendum of Privilege and Oppression:     "I wouldn’t say therapy, because psychology isn’t very good at taking in the sociological view. But it has to do with working on your inner history to understand that you were in systems, and that they are in you. It has to do with looking around yourself the way sociologists do and seeing the big patterns in the rest of society, while keeping a balance and really respecting your experience. Seeing the oppression of others is, of course, very important work. But so is seeing how the systems oppress oneself." Quote of Peggy McIntosh, in "The Origins of 'Privilege'," by Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 12 May 2014.   ^{[ 3 ]}

 

Addendum of Resentful White Liberal Saviors:   "Resentment of those seen as standing in the way of necessary social and cultural change may inspire a commitment to what political scientist Eric Kaufman calls 'multicultural millenarianism': the belief that the demise of a white majority will pave the way for a more racially progressive and just society. Perhaps this is why white support for increasing immigration coincides with more negative feelings toward whites. Whatever the case, such sentiment would have been hard to fathom 10-20 years ago. The digitalization of moral outrage that makes it possible today could, with the pace of innovation, make it even more potent in the years to come." In "America’s White Saviors," by Zach Goldberg, Tablet, 5 June 2019.   ^{[ 4 ]}

 

Addendum of One White Liberal Beaten by the System:    "This attack and the ensuing media circus are par for the course in 2019. In both my native United States and here in the United Kingdom, it always has been and still is open season on the bodies of (in no specific order) people of colour, indigenous people, transgender people, disabled people, queer people, poor people, women and migrants. I have evaded much of the violence and oppression imposed on so many others by our capitalist, white supremacist, patriarchal system because of the privileges I enjoy by dint of my race, health, education, and conventional gender presentation. That has nothing to do with the merit of my character." In "You saw me covered in blood on a bus. But do you get outraged about all homophobia?" by Chris, Guardian UK, 14 June 2019.

 

Addendum of the White Supremacist Rally:    "For a white supremacy march, they were awfully diverse. What do you call it when whites, blacks, gays, straights, Latinos, etc.–in other words, Americans–turn up at the alleged 'celebration of hate'? A: you call it what it is, a rally for the cherished right to bear arms. Hell, even some Antifa members planned to march. This rally had everything: 'Black Guns Matter' shirts, 'Guns Save Lives' stickers, a rainbow banner proclaiming 'Gays For Guns.' A rally made necessary by devious state government, fronted by the ridiculous Ralph Northam." In "The War Of Northam Aggression Backfires," by Court Anderson, CD Media, 21 January 2020.

 

Addendum of a Rich White Daughter of a Rich White Father:   " 'Because we’re white, we have had privilege,' Fonda, 82, said to host Don Lemon during her segment. 'Even the poorest of us have had privilege'." In " Jane Fonda Says Even 'the Poorest' of White People Have Privilege: 'We Need to Recognize That'," by Ale Russian, People, 2 June 2020.

 

NOTES   [ 1 ]    Davis makes us privy to the "problem" which seems to have required the "encouragement of my therapist" and a "workplace discrimination attorney" is indentified as a "white privilege" problem, at least in the parlance of a Variety article, is amusing. Variety is currently owned by Penske Media Corporation (PMC), an American digital media, publishing, and information services company based in Los Angeles and New York City. PMC's Chairman and CEO since founding is Jay Penske. And white.               "In October 2012, the PMC purchased Variety Inc., Variety.com, Variety Magazine, and all associated assets for a reported $25 million from Reed Elsevier," (Wikipedia) PMC also owns Rolling Stone, Robb Report, Deadline Hollywood, Fairchild Fashion Media, and a host of other companies and properties. Given the above assertion, published by a "white" media conglomerate, one learns how "white" Whitney Davis' former employer has been and remains to be. Apparently this is or will be a problem, as Ms. Davis and her workplace discrimination attorney make their accusation into a civil suite. Other civil suits are pending as well, and not only about race.               And:  "In July 2018, an article by Ronan Farrow in The New Yorker claimed that thirty 'current and former CBS employees described harassment, gender discrimination, or retaliation' at CBS and six women accused Les Moonves of harassment and intimidation. Following these allegations, it was reported on September 6, 2018 that CBS board members were negotiating Les Moonves's departure from the company." Les Moonves is white. Joseph R. Ianniello, replaced as acting CEO. Glenn Geller, admittedly gay, was a most recent chief, now followed by Kelly Kahl and Thom Sherman. They are also white. And men. See the problem?               Among the problems is a comparative fact.  While Ms. Davis states in a white publication that her white employer offered a possible settlement of "$50,000," one might place that number alongside the per capita income for all of Los Angeles County -- $46,771. Somehow, all involved in this tale, from litigant, to plaintiff, to therapist, to attorney, and all the various management, seem more privileged than the average Los Angeles Joe. Or LA Jill.           Perhaps the aggrieved is a victim of White Noise .  Perhaps those accused are perpetrators? Game on.   [ 2 ]    The small web page includes "This website was created by members of Professor Arlene Avakian's class The Social Construction of Whiteness and Women at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst."  Professor Avakian is white, and is likely more privileged in salary and pension benefits than most citizens of her state.  For a broader perspective on such "privilege," and particularly in the UMass system, one should consider the rhyme, addenda and sourced footnotes which tell the tale when Doctor Oppression comes to call .           The postmodern game of assigning "privilege" to a group identity by some other group identity collapses upon itself in short order.           As an example among many examples, one reads:  "But many transgender women of color, representing the T in the LGBTQ community, have seized the moment to air their grievances, such as suffering from higher levels of unemployment and homelessness as their cisgender gay and lesbian brethren. 'If pride month is the only time you talk about these issues, that's probably a sign you should look into just how privileged you are,' said Darya Shirvani, 19, a white Los Angeles college student." In "Tensions between trans women and gay men boil over at Stonewall anniversary," by Matthew Lavietes, Reuters, 30 June 2019.           "Tensions" quite expectedly "boil over," as the competition for assigning privilege by one group identity towards and against another group identity with the goal of gaining status and some assumed "moral high ground" must inevitably make tensions rise. The use of a pejorative is enough for things to "boil over." Tick tock.   [ 3 ]     One reads of an originator as cited in the "The Origins of 'Privilege."               "...Peggy McIntosh was born into the very cream of America’s aristocratic elite, and has remained ensconced there ever since. Her ‘experiential’ list enumerating the ways in which she benefits from being born with white skin simply confuses racial privilege with the financial advantages she has always been fortunate enough to enjoy. Many of her points are demonstrably economic. One is left to wonder why, given her stated conviction that she has unfairly benefited from her skin color, there seems to be no record of her involvement in any charity or civil rights work. If she did take to the streets in support of some cause or other, she left no trace that I can see. Nor, as far as I can tell, has she spent any time teaching the underprivileged or working directly to better anyone’s condition but her own. Instead, she has contented herself with a generous six figure salary, and has not shown any particular eagerness to hand her position over to a more deserving person of color." In "Unpacking Peggy McIntosh’s Knapsack," Quillette, 29 August 2018.               So a public intellectual critiques and is critiqued. One reads further:  "She has been criticized for concealing her considerable, personal class privilege and displacing it onto the collective category of race." In "Peggy McIntosh," Wikipedia, n .d.               And further:  "...critics highlight the irony that college students who commonly invoke privilege theory do so from a place of privilege on behalf of groups who often do not endorse the privilege paradigm. Those invoking the privilege paradigm ignore the broad social privileges enjoyed in the developed world such as free expression, freedom of the press, freedom to peaceful assembly, rule of law, and individualism." In "Social privilege," Wikipedia, n .d.             "In 2014, Princeton University first-year student Tal Fortgang authored "Checking My Privilege", a widely debated article in which he condemned classmates who told him to "check his privilege" for attributing his success in life to "some invisible patron saint of white maleness", and "for casting the equal protection clause, indeed the very idea of a meritocracy, as a myth". McIntosh afterwards told the New Yorker that Fortgang was resisting seeing himself systemically. She argued that everybody has a combination of unearned advantage and unearned disadvantage, and should aim to try to see themselves in the context of societal patterns of discrimination and oppression."                But then:  "Let’s not start a white privilege contest — what would the prize be? — even if it’s one you may win." In "White Privilege Begets White Privilege," by Philip Gaines, New York Times, 25 August 2019.                And then:  "Those who argue for the existence of black privilege, however, don't deny these grim numbers. They just don't blame racism for those racial disparities." In "It's time to talk about 'black privilege'," by John Blake, CNN, 31 March 2016.            One notes the interesting nexus herein, in which white academic liberals birth, nurture a new "social construct" and then use it politically -- sociologically -- to batter non-academic white conservatives. Black liberals and conservatives take similar "sociological" sides, as American Asians join the "sociological" fray, as sociology itself becomes a battleground.    Racial Disparities Means Racism?              One reads, since Harvard University current president, Lawrence S. Bacow, is white and therefore must participate heavily in McIntosh's "white privilege" condemnation:   "Harvard is being sued by an organization, Students for Fair Admission, representing Asian-Americans accusing it of discrimination in admissions. According to news reports, an internal unpublished Harvard analysis in 2013 indicated that 43% of admissions would have been Asians if admission had been based strictly on academic considerations alone, things like high school performance and scores on the SAT examination. In fact, only about one-half that proportion of Asians were admitted. The data seem to suggest that Harvard has an Asian quota of about 20% of its students, less than one-half the proportion attending Cal Tech, a school that bases admission almost exclusively on academic criteria. As Asians become an increasing proportion of the American population, the Asian share of Harvard students remains almost unchanged. Harvard says it also looks at extracurricular, athletic and 'personal' characteristics and achievement, apparently implicitly concluding that Asians are deficient in these dimensions, especially athletics and 'personal' factors. The latter factor is an almost wholly subjective one, where the biases of admissions officers can dominate." In "Race And College Admissions: Harvard And Chicago," by Richard Vedder, Forbes, 30 July 2018.   Asians Score Lower Based on What?              Further and quite like the bias against American Jews:  "...often, there was a thumb on the scale. Now that’s happening to Asians, as it has come out that Harvard consistently scored Asian applicants lower on the subjective 'personal rating.' These traits included 'positive personality,' likability, courage, kindness and being 'widely respected,' according to an analysis of six years of admission data filed Friday in federal court in Boston by Students for Fair Admissions, a group representing Asian-American students in a lawsuit against the university. In "Why is Harvard discriminating against Asian Americans? 'Diversity' is no excuse for racial bias," by Glenn Reynolds, USA Today, 18 June 2018.            And as to white-led Harvard:  "The memo filed with the court said Harvard's own internal investigation in 2013 concluded that its admissions system was biased against Asian Americans. But instead of addressing the problem, 'Harvard killed the investigation and buried the reports.' There seems little doubt that Harvard is practicing conscious racial discrimination here. But why? The excuse seems to be 'diversity,' in the sense that if admissions were based solely on objective criteria, the school would be majority-Asian, which would change the 'character' of Harvard." In "Why is Harvard discriminating against Asian Americans? 'Diversity' is no excuse for racial bias," by Glenn Reynolds, USA Today, 18 June 2018.   Academic Support for Racial Segregation              Additionally, it is noticed that universities participate in segregation. One reads:  "In his inaugural address in January 1963, Gov. George Wallace of Alabama thundered: 'Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever.' About 'tomorrow,' Wallace was right. More than half a century later, racial segregation comes as easy as breathing to many American colleges and universities."   In "Segregation by Design on Campus: How racial separatism become the norm at elite universities," by Peter W. Wood and Dion J. Pierre, Wall Street Journal, 29 April 2019.            The article takes note that:  "Today’s racial segregation, by contrast, consists of ethnic groups walling themselves off within institutions. In the past two years the National Association of Scholars surveyed 173 colleges and universities, public and private, in all 50 states. We found 46% of schools segregate student orientation programs, 43% segregate residential arrangements, and 72% segregate graduation ceremonies. Though these arrangements are ostensibly voluntary, students can’t easily opt out. The social pressure to conform is overwhelming."             And then, there's white privilege....   How long will such cosseted scholars linger on their wide privy ledge?              One wonders whether McIntosh and her coterie will now respond with some academic study proving Asian privilege, requiring Asians to grovel to a newly minted social construct, courtesy of few sociology departments' scholars and theorists?            But wait!  One learns:  "The Universities and Colleges Union has set out its stance in a report on the ongoing row about whether men should be able to self-identify as women and be treated as female regardless of their anatomy. The UCU's 'position statement' did not just stand by its support for self-identification of gender, but also insisted people can choose their own race, saying: 'Our rules commit us to ending all forms of discrimination, bigotry and stereotyping. UCU has a long history of enabling members to self-identify whether that is being black, disabled, LGBT+ or women'. Recognising 'self-defined' women as fully female is deeply controversial among many feminists and others." In "Anyone should be allowed to 'identify' as black regardless of the colour of their skin or background, say university leaders," by Glen Owen, Mail Online, 16 November 2019.            Perhaps Peggy McIntosh should have self-identified as....            Consider the impact on culture when Everything's about my colored skin  - (or sadly, Why racism works).   [ 4 ]     Goldberg observes:  "...white liberals recently became the only demographic group in America to display a pro-outgroup bias—meaning that among all the different groups surveyed white liberals were the only one that expressed a preference for other racial and ethnic communities above their own. As woke ideology has accelerated, a growing faction of white liberals have pulled away from the average opinions held by the rest of the coalition of Democratic voters—including minority groups in the party. The revolution in moral sentiment among this one segment of American voters has led to a cascade of consequences ranging from changes in the norms and attitudes expressed in media and popular culture, to the adoption of new political rhetoric and electoral strategies of the Democratic Party. Nor has this occurred in a vacuum on the left as the initiatives set in motion by white liberals have, in turn, provoked responses and countermeasures from conservatives and Republicans."            The salient fact that such a "white" liberal stance "provoked responses and countermeasures" is to have been expected. This is the well known human phenomenon of pushing back, akin to the equal and opposite reaction of which physics teaches.   In a Fit of Unthinking Mimicry, the Alchemical Brew              From a different, non-Western tradition, one reads:  "... the enemy of the reactionary mind is an alchemical brew served up in the name of progress — liberal politics, theologies of social emancipation, technocrats, trade agreements, multiculturalism. Why exactly these arouse anger and response is complicated, if not obscure. One answer that the writer Pankaj Mishra offers in his sweeping and provocative new book (Age of Anger) is that the collective rage we see world over is, in parts, a reaction against the architecture of Anglo-American modernity imposed by elites in a fit of unthinking mimicry. This has in turn created half-formed mentalities. Individuals who are neither conservative and grounded in tradition, nor prepared to live a life of “agitation, change, and danger” that modernity imposes. Lacking the tools that traditional societies offer its children, men in this half-modern world adopt identities as a way to be." In "An equal and opposite reaction," by Keerthik Sasidharan, The Hindu, 12 March 2017.   The Suffocating Vitality of White Noise              Thus, the "new" liberal progressivism is not new. It is age-old and "complicated" if "obscure."  Sasidharan concludes:  "Men put on masks — masks originally designed by foreigners for their own festivals — to render their lives with a vitality that contrasts with the insignificance of their lives swept up in vast, impersonal events. The result, over time, is the desire to tear that suffocating mask away: to feel free, even if momentarily."            To reject one's own in-group preferences for an out-group preference seems the current measure of the "white liberal," using the modern parlance, toxic in masculinity and resentful of privilege. Yet oddly, privilege within the "white liberal" academic community keeps many white liberals happily cosseted, well-paid and secure in their resentments. Professor Peggy McIntosh, as above, exemplifies this, atop "the very cream of America’s aristocratic elite." A seemingly self-loathing white liberal elite, adopting "masks" while bathed in privilege they so resent -- in others. Much sounds as White Noise .

 

As to another sort of White Privilege, see below:   Heroes' Tale - small and stale

Anthem of the Academic Left

"When you're born into this world, you're given a ticket to the freak show. If you're born in America you get a front row seat." George Carlin (1937-2008)

 

This country, 'tis for thee,
Nothing but misery,
Nothing worthwhile.
Soon may this hated land
Fall to our guiding hand,
Transforming necessarily
By any means.

 

     

'Sizeable' Revolutionary Party protest in Chicago

 

Addendum of RevCom:   "The protesters are affiliated with the Revolutionary Communist Party (RevCom), which is a Maoist political party chaired by Bob Avakian. Avakian, who is known as 'Chairman Bob,' and once called Mao Zedong’s China 'wondrous,' is sometimes accused of running the party as a cult of personality. The party advocates the overthrow of the government of the United States. As students were handed fliers, the activists shouted 'America was never great!' and 'It’s time for a revolution!' Downey pulled out a large American flag from his backpack and began standing on it until he was approached by the UCPD." In "Communist Revolutionaries Stand on Flags at Quad Protest," by Jamie Ehrlich, Chicago Maroon, 6 October 2016.

 

Red, white and blue and Brown

 

Addendum of Universities in 2019:   "At Brown University, a group of students 'celebrated' Veterans Day by tearing up small American flags and tossing them in the garbage. Others carried off flags, or gave them a robust stomping. 'Someone was walking down the path and stomping on them one by one,' one eyewitness told The Washington Post. 'I went over and nicely asked, ‘Could you not do that? People just put them up'. I explained they were for Veterans Day. She said, 'I don’t care about that right now’ and walked off. Brown may have the highest-profile incident of flag disrespect, but it’s far from the only one." In "Students at Brown and other colleges desecrate flag to protest Trump," by Blake Neff, Daily Caller, 16 November 2016.

 

Standing on the lack of courage of his convictions

 

Addendum of the Weather Underground:   "... the complexity of Ayers: a man who once tried to overthrow his country’s government and now works for a state university; an opponent of the bourgeoisie who has been married for 20 years; a left-wing radical who loves a good cup of imperialist coffee. Maybe he’s always known how to choose his battles. Once one of his sons wanted to hear about how Ayers had been a draft card burner. 'Tell me again how you burned your credit card, Pop,' his son confusedly asked. 'I'm not that radical,' Ayers retorted." In "No Regrets," by Marcia Froelke Coburn, Chicago Magazine, 1 August 2001.

 

Consider the Background:  From Ivied Walls and Towers

 

  

 

Addendum of a Different Flag Protest:   "Pictures also show anti-LGBT activists stamping on the flag in the capital’s downtown." In "Rainbow flags BURNED in sick homophobic protest at LGBT Pride parade," Daily Star, 18 June 2017.

 

Standing on a rainbow LGBT flag in Kiev, suggesting protest tactics are shared, irrespective of approved consensus

 

Nordic Resistance Movement (Nordiska Motståndsrörelsen) burns a European Union flag

 

As a contrast, Hong Kong protestors wave American flags

 

Addendum of Flag Waving:   "China's leadership was reviled by the sight of a 33-foot 'Goddess of Democracy' sculpture modeled on America's Statue of Liberty that was erected using papier-mâché during the student-led demonstrations in Beijing's Tiananmen Square 30 years ago. The symbol led Beijing to suspect US intelligence involvement in those fatefully crushed protests. Similar claims were made when protests paralyzed parts of Hong Kong for 79 days in late 2014. Then Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying publicly stated he had information that proved foreign powers were behind the most protracted episode of civil disobedience in the city's history, though he never disclosed evidence substantiating the claim." In "Why Hong Kong protesters fly the American flag, It has nothing to do with a US-backed 'color revolution', as Beijing claims, and everything to do with rights, liberties and democracy," by Nile Bowie, Hong Kong, Asia Times, 30 July 2019.

 

Addendum of Some Dangers in Burning a Flag:   "A number of fundamentalists in Iran have burned American flags to protest the United States, but dissidents who oppose the ruling clerics have never been known to burn Iran's green and orange flag, which contains the name of God, or Allah. To do so would be blasphemy, the same charge leveled against Rushdie when he was sentenced to death by assassination for his novel 'Satanic Verses'." 'In "Some countries don't waver when it comes to flag laws," by Gayle Young, United Press International, 14 June 1990.   ^{[ 1 ]}

 

Addendum of More from the Academic Left:   "It's hard to wade through all the references to hxrstory and womxn and misogynoir and cisheteropatriarchy. We have no objection to a course that broadens students' thinking about race and gender and sexuality and history and power. But too often the proposed ethnic studies curriculum feels like an exercise in groupthink, designed to proselytize and inculcate more than to inform and open minds."    In "California's proposed new ethnic studies curriculum is jargon-filled and all-too-PC," by Staff, Los Angeles Times, 9 August 2019.   ^{[ 2 ]}

 

Addendum of Torching a Flag Too Much:   "The Napa County man tried to set Old Glory ablaze in his father’s driveway and things got out of hand. He burned down Dad’s garage instead, American Canyon police say. Now Fimbres, 28, is facing felony arson charges in Napa County Jail where he sat Thursday morning in lieu of $50,000 bail." In " My bad: Napa Valley man tries to torch American flag, burns down dad’s garage instead," by Darrell Smith, Sacramento Bee, 29 August 2019.

 

Addendum of an Academic...:   "...serious consideration of a politics left of liberalism. We stand in favor of wealth redistribution, dissolving the institution of the police, communal ownership of the means of production, ecologically sustainable production and consumption and the rights of communities to self-determination. It is no accident that the liberal state has caused oppression and exploitation; these are results of its fundamental structure. As our bourgeois oppressors grow increasingly bold in their use of naked force, we must either recognize that the present moment calls for a broad coalition on the left inspired by anarchist and socialist principles or find ourselves under the thumb of a dystopian regime. Liberalism is dead. In its wake, we have an opportunity to struggle for equality and power. It is imperative that we seize this opportunity. If we don't start optimistically organizing on the egalitarian principles of anarchism and communism, then the authoritarianism sweeping the Western world will gladly take liberalism's place." In "Your Invitation to the Radical Left," by Siraj Ahmed Sindhu '17 and Brian Z. Zayatz '18, Amherst Student, 21 December 2019.   ^{[ 3 ]}

 

Addendum of Flags to Burn:   "Business is booming at Iran’s largest flag factory which makes U.S., British and Israeli flags for Iranian protesters to burn. At the factory in the town of Khomein, southwest of the capital Tehran, young men and women print the flags by hand then hang them up to dry. The factory produces about 2,000 U.S. and Israeli flags a month in its busiest periods, and more than 1.5 million square feet of flags a year." In "Iranian factory makes U.S. and Israeli flags to burn," Reuters, 30 January 2020.

 

Addendum of Clarity from a Liberal:   "To anyone who knows the long history of the relationship between Marxist regimes and famine, this development seems uncannily familiar. More than 80 years ago, in the winter of 1932–33, Stalin confiscated the food of Ukrainian peasants and did nothing while nearly 4 million died. Then he covered up their deaths, even altering Soviet population statistics and murdering census officials to disguise what had happened. To anyone who knows the long history of Communist countries’ use of food as a weapon, the Venezuelan regime’s manipulation of the food supply comes as no surprise, either. Most Venezuelans—80 percent according to a recent survey—now rely on boxes of food, containing staples such as rice, grain, or oil, from the government. Agencies known as Local Committees for Supply and Production hand the packages out to people who register for a Patria ('fatherland') card or smartphone app, which are also used to monitor participation in elections. Raffalli has called this policy 'not a food program, but a program of penetration and social domination.' The hungrier people get, the more control the government exerts, and the easier it is to prevent them from protesting or objecting in any other way. Even people who are not starving now spend most of their time just getting by—standing in lines, trying to fix broken generators, working second or third jobs to earn a little bit more—all activities that keep them from politics." In "Venezuela Is the Eerie Endgame of Modern Politics - Citizens of a once-prosperous nation live amid the havoc created by socialism, illiberal nationalism, and political polarization," by Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 27 February 2020.   ^{[ 4 ]}

 

Addendum of Changing Law in Germany:   "The move followed Social Democrat (SPD) complaints about protesters' burning of the Israeli flag in Berlin in 2017. Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht, a member of the centre-left SPD, said "burning flags publicly has nothing to do with peaceful protests". She said it stoked up '"hatred, anger and aggression', and hurt many people's feelings. The new law also applies to acts of defilement besides burning, such as publicly ripping a flag up." In "Burning EU and other flags can now bring German jail term," BBC, 15 May 2020.

 

NOTES   [ 1 ]  The article notes that "China also could deal harshly with flag burners under a law banning counter-revolutionary incitement, which carries a minimum of five years in prison for those deemed to be ringleaders."   Some Flags Are Holy? Others Profaned            That some in the West find self-congratulatory virtue in standing on an American flag, it is not heroic in any sense as a measure of protest brought into action. Standing on an American flag signals usually one political stance in opposition to another, but is not illegal. Yet when favored flags for one side, are willingly desecrated by another, as always, two can play at that game. Desecrating a political or religious symbol can include standing on that LGBT rainbow flag in a Ukrainian protest, as above. To desecrate an American flag is amusing, as the protesters know full well there is no associated punishment. The Iranian flag in Iran? The Communist Chinese flag in China? That's different kettle of fish. Why? Because other regimes respond with force and enforcement.          Consider the hoopla when other icons are torched, and what happens when The Dust Settles .   [ 2 ]   It is remarkable how transparent is the urge for the academic Left's "guiding hand" to use "any means" necessary to reach the ultimate goal of Marxist-informed power and control over society.          "An exercise in groupthink" -- that Orwellian critique -- to "proselytize" is observed by a California newspaper editorial.   Anti-capitalism Dressed in Many Costumes            One reads:   "With the emergence of intersectionality as a widely popular theory of current feminism, Marxist feminists include an analysis of other sources of oppression beyond class that increase exploitation in a capitalist system while also remaining critical of intersectionality theory for relying on bourgeois identity politics. The current organization Radical Women provides a clear example of successful incorporation of the goals of Marxist feminism without overlooking identities that are more susceptible to exploitation. They contend that elimination of the capitalist profit-driven economy will remove the motivation for sexism, racism, homophobia, and other forms of oppression." In Marxist feminism," Wikipedia, n. d.          Thus the all-purpose answer to society's problems runs through the predictable course of Marxist thought, one size fitting all.   Honoring Connections with Other-than-persons via Mathematx            Amusingly one finds academia sponsoring various intersectional views, including mathematics.  One reads as an example:  " 'The relationship between humans, mathematics, and the planet has been one steeped too long in domination and destruction,' Gutierrez notes in her presentation's description. 'I argue for a movement against objects, truths, and knowledge towards a way of being in the world that is guided by first principles — mathematx. This shift from thinking of mathematics as a noun to mathematx as a verb holds potential for honouring our connections with each other as human and other-than-human persons, for balancing problem solving with joy, and for maintaining critical bifocality at the local and global level'." "In "Education 'Equity' Professor Wants Mathematics To Honor 'Other-Than-Human Persons'," by Rob Shimshock, Tennessee Star, 15 August 2018.   Rehumanizing for Other-than-humans?            Of the professor in education, one reads of her view that students "...need political knowledge. Her current research projects focus upon: developing in pre-service teachers the knowledge and disposition to teach powerful mathematics to urban students; the roles of uncertainty, tensions, and 'Nepantla' in teaching; and the political knowledge (and forms of creative insubordination) that mathematics teachers need to effectively "rehumanize" mathematics in an era of high-stakes education. She also builds upon Indigenous principles and has argued for a new form of mathematics where humans are no long centered. This form of mathematics is referred to as living mathematx." In "Gutierrez, Rochelle, Biography," Latina/Latino Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Education, n. d.          This advocate of a new mathematics earned a BA in biology, and higher degrees all in education, not mathematics. According to the "Board of Trustees - University of Illinois: Gray Book," September 2018, she is "oppressed" with a salary of $115,037.99.  As a comparison, according the the St. Louis Fed, and median household income is about $45,240, less than half a professorial recompense.  For an additional comparison, one finds that "Of the 168,913 residents of Champaign County, Illinois who were born citizens of the United States, 33,513 (19.8%) had income levels below the poverty line within the past year." Via Welfare Info.  Poverty for a family of four was defined as $25,100.          "Political knowledge" is in part a matter of comparisons between the oppressors and the oppressed, is it not? Such is the knowledge of relative incomes surrounding the university.   Teaching Resistance Strategies of Survival?            Of Gutierrez' call for Napantla, one learns:  "Most often the term is referencing endangered peoples, cultures, and/or gender, who due to invasion/conquest/marginalization or forced acculturation, engage in resistance strategies of survival. In this sense, this larger, cultural space of Nepantla becomes a postmodern paradigm or consciousness rooted in the creation of a new middle. Anzaldua calls this La Nueva Mestizaje, the intent of which is to heal from the open wound of colonial occupation. Sometimes, it is a reference to living in the borderlands or crossroads, and the process of creating alternative spaces in which to live, function or create. In other words, it is the process of developing political, cultural or psychological consciousness as a means of survival." In "Nepantla Aesthetics," Chicanoart.org, n. d.          "Nepantla can also describe individuals or groups who are today in conflict with a larger, perhaps more globally reaching culture or ideology. Nepantla has also been identified as a tool for political change." In "Nepantla," Wikipedia, n. d.          As ever, "political change" is another meaningless phrase, without specifics. Change to what? To proselytize to what? To political knowledge? But which?   Nuevos conquistadores coloniales para Postmodernism?            There is a deep irony here, for historically five "colonial" language groups overtook indigenous peoples in the Americas. These were English, French, Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish. Thus the "education" of "mathematx" is conducted in English in university courses, and supported through reference to Latina/Latino Studies, as at Illinois. Both cultures and languages are in fact historically colonial, and the word from the Spanish now even in English, conquistador, refers to conquest. Thus, one may argue that the "movement against objects, truths, and knowledge" relies on colonial history, language and forms to argue against colonial history, language and forms for the sake of "a postmodern paradigm" to teach "political knowledge" of a very specific sort.   Against Truths and Knowledge is the New Truth in Academia?            Postmodern? Post-Marxist, perhaps.  One reads:  "Post-Marxism is a trend in political philosophy and social theory which deconstructs Karl Marx's writings and Marxism proper, bypassing orthodox Marxism. The term post-Marxism first appeared in Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe's theoretical work Hegemony and Socialist Strategy. It can be said that post-Marxism as a political theory was developed at the University of Essex by Laclau and Mouffe. Philosophically, post-Marxism counters derivationism and essentialism (for example, it does not see economy as a foundation of politics and the state as an instrument that functions unambiguously and autonomously on behalf of the interests of a given class)."   In "Post-Marxism," Wikipedia, n. d.          Wiki notes:  "Post-Marxism dates from the late 1960s and several trends and events of that period influenced its development. The weakness of the Soviet Union paradigm became evident and Marxism faced a lack since the Second International. This happened concurrently with the occurrence internationally of the student riots of 1968, the rise of Maoist theory and the proliferation of commercial television which covered in its broadcasts the Vietnam War."          Thus these various forms of socialism experience schism. One finds:  "Postmodernism teaches us to ignore the reality we live in, and, by masking itself in obscure and pretentious language, creates a wedge between intellectuals and the worlds masses of working people. Its a way of thinking that almost seems made to fit the political situation of our time. When looking at how we are taught to think in our modern (or is that postmodern?) late capitalist society, its [ sic ] important we consider just who’s interests our way of thinking serves." In "A Marxist critique of Postmodernism," by Byron Clark, Fightback.org, 25 August, 2008.   Liberation Through Control? Or Schisms Aplenty? But Always Anti-capitalist            The article on intersectionality above notes that ""Marxist feminism is feminism focused on investigating and explaining the ways in which women are oppressed through systems of capitalism and private property. According to Marxist feminists, women's liberation can only be achieved through a radical restructuring of the current capitalist economy, in which, they contend, much of women's labor is uncompensated."          Gather enough educators and policy makers together, and then Doctor Oppression comes to call .  Throughout this process the "betters" in the academic Left prove themselves capable of acquiring more than the median of a general population in salaries and pensions, perquisites, power and personal prestige, all the while muddling minds with such multiplying terminology as the Los Angeles Times article notes in its editorial.          "...hxrstory and womxn and misogynoir and cisheteropatriarchy."             As this article is drawn from the Los Angeles Times in 2019, one may also reflect of the testimony of venal Politics building the predictable two-tiered society of "robber barons and the poor," which the Left has pretended to struggle against while working towards, as proven through the history of Marxist thought in action.  Consider the proof being seen in California and its Two teared society .          It is unlikely there will come a time when I Shall Believe the Socialist .  The lures of power and wealth, prestige and perquisites is great.  Left, right and center.... Even for womxn.... Especially for public servants, Communists, Socialists, Democrats and Republicans, and certainly the cosseted and well-paid academic class.   [ 3 ]    Let it be clear stated. The "radical Left," according to this paints as "egalitarian" the "principles of anarchism and communism," as has been Communism been marketed for a century and more. Poppycock.   Egalitarian Totalitarianism?  Radical and Left            One may survey the historical and actual current evidence for Communism -- which the writers contrast with authoritarianism -- by documenting that Communism is a Totalitarian form of government.          One may also reflect on the article in an academic student newspaper, that it is trying to paint a picture of illiberalism, as it declares liberalism dead.          This strategy is because marketing Communism is about How it's pictured, how it's seen - images and what we mean.   [ 4 ]   Compared to the above "invitation to the radical left," as some Amherst graduates penned, Applebaum reminds of historical proofs that such "radical" Left stances have proven out historically as murderous failures.   The Endgame of ideological Marxism             She notes:  "Venezuela is the endgame of ideological Marxism; the culmination of the assault on democracy, courts, and the press now unfolding in so many countries; and the outer limit of the politics of polarization. But I don’t want, as so many have done, to treat Venezuela as just a symbol. It’s a real place, and the hardships faced by the people who live there have not ended, culminated, or been limited at all."           While an academic Left advocates for a "next" failure for the sake of their ideological ardor, it becomes obvious to those with a mind to the last century's history that said academic Left wishes a nation and people to again "Fall to our guiding hand, / Transforming necessarily / By any means."           For more on the "endgame of ideological Marxism" in Venezuela, see:  Left to their own devices .

---

 

Do you remember the good old days?

"Do you remember the good old days when we had '12 years to save the planet'? Now it seems, there's a growing consensus that the next 18 months will be critical in dealing with the global heating crisis, among other environmental challenges." In "Climate change: 12 years to save the planet? Make that 18 months," by Matt McGrath, BBC, 24 July 2019.

 

Do you remember the good old days,
            Those chilly days of yore?
            Those happy days of visions
            Of catastrophic lore?
Do you remember those few short years,
            So many years ago?
            Those happy years now gone by,
            Lost in the ebb and flow?
Do you remember? Do you now?
            Shut windows of opportunity?
            Disasters dreamed and dreamed again
            And the dreamers' dreamed immunity?
Do you remember? Shame on you then.
            Chicken Little is ever young.
            Shrieks of crises, yes, but still
            The same old tune is sung.
Do you remember the good old days,
            Those days of saving grace?
            Looking back at what was preached
            Shows crises are but commonplace.

 

Addendum of Remembering the the BBC's '18 Months' Six Months Later:    "...'exaggerated claims about the speed at which new technologies can be introduced are holding back progress.' It continued: 'Relying on breakthrough technologies to achieve zero emissions by 2050 is risky and delays action. Instead, with today’s technologies we can meet the target for almost all activities, but we have no substitutes for cement, shipping, flying, lamb or beef.' The report says the UK can anticipate having four times as much emissions-free electricity in 2050 as today if current rates of renewables expansion continue." In "Climate change: Clean tech 'won't solve warming in time'," by Roger Harrabin, BBC, 6 February 2020.

 

Addendum of Remembering the Good Old Days a Winter In Advance:   "Climate experts believe the bitterly cold spell will rival the freezing winter of 1963, which is said to have been the coldest for 200 years."   In "Britain braced for 'coldest winter for 30 years'," by Victoria Bell, Yahoo News UK, 5 October 2019.

 

Addendum of Not Remembering the Good Old Days of 2020:   "Officials at Glacier National Park (GNP) have begun quietly removing and altering signs and government literature which told visitors that the Park’s glaciers were all expected to disappear by either 2020 or 2030. In recent years the National Park Service prominently featured brochures, signs and films which boldly proclaimed that all glaciers at GNP were melting away rapidly. But now officials at GNP seem to be scrambling to hide or replace their previous hysterical claims while avoiding any notice to the public that the claims were inaccurate. Teams from Lysander Spooner University visiting the Park each September have noted that GNP’s most famous glaciers such as the Grinnell Glacier and the Jackson Glacier appear to have been growing—not shrinking—since about 2010. (The Jackson Glacier—easily seen from the Going-To-The-Sun Highway—may have grown as much as 25% or more over the past decade.)" In "Glacier National Park Quietly Removes Its ‘Gone by 2020’ Signs," Roger I. Roots, Alt-Market, 9 June 2019.

 

Addendum of Remembering a Prediction about 2020:   "By 2020, visitors to the Costa del Sol could risk contracting malaria as global warming brings more frequent heatwaves, making the country a suitable habitat for malaria-bearing mosquitoes, while increases in summer temperatures to more than 40C (104F) could make parts of Turkey and Greece no-go areas in July and August." In "Tourist spots could be too hot to handle," by Jamie Wilson, Guardian UK, 29 August 1999.

 

Addendum of Remembering the Rapidly Shrinking Time Frame:    "...while some say that humanity could not cause a 4 degrees warming by any conceivable means, others declare environmental defeat by maintaining that the international climate-policy goal of confining the planetary warming to less than 2 degrees is already a lost case. Yet there’s ample evidence that we can hold a 2 degrees line indeed, the authors point out. Technological advancements show we can realise the 'Great Transformation' of global sustainability and research initiatives are rising to face this challenge. However, the evidence demonstrates that the time frame to achieve this is rapidly shrinking." In " 'The body of evidence for significant global warming is overwhelming'," by Emma Critchley, Imperial College London, 16 September 2013.

 

Addendum of Remembering the Good Old Days of 2019:   "...activists who argued that the singular threat posed by climate change set it apart from other issues denounced the DNC's decision. 'This is downright irresponsible. Climate change is an emergency, but Tom Perez isn’t acting like it,' said Sofie Karasek, a spokesperson with Sunrise Movement, a youth-led environmental group. 'We have just over ten years to completely transform our economy to avert catastrophe, but instead of being the adult in the room, Tom Perez is throwing procedural temper tantrums'." In "Democratic leadership again considers climate change debate -- and again says no," by Benjamin Siegel, ABC News, 24 August 2019.

 

Addendum of Remembering the Good Old Days of 2007:   "... the earth has a fever. And the fever is rising. The experts have told us it is not a passing affliction that will heal by itself. We asked for a second opinion. And a third. And a fourth. And the consistent conclusion, restated with increasing alarm, is that something basic is wrong." In "Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, Al Gore, 10 December 2007.

 

Addendum of Remembering the Good Old Days of 2004:   "A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a 'Siberian' climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world." In "Now the Pentagon tells Bush: climate change will destroy us ," by Mark Townsend and Paul Harris, Guardian UK, 2 February 2004.

 

Addendum of Remembering the Good Old Days of 1989:   "A senior U.N. environmental official says entire nations could be wiped off the face of the Earth by rising sea levels if the global warming trend is not reversed by the year 2000. Coastal flooding and crop failures would create an exodus of 'eco-refugees,' threatening political chaos, said Noel Brown, director of the New York office of the U.N. Environment Program, or UNEP. He said governments have a 10-year window of opportunity to solve the greenhouse effect before it goes beyond human control." In "U.N. Predicts Disaster if Global Warming Not Checked," by Peter James Spielmann, Associated Press, 30 June 1989.

 

Addendum of Remembering the Other Good Old Days of 1989:     "After examining climate data extending back nearly 100 years, a team of Government scientists has concluded that there has been no significant change in average temperatures or rainfall in the United States over that entire period. ...The study, made by scientists for the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration was published in the current issue of Geophysical Research Letters. It is based on temperature and precipitation readings taken at weather stations around the country from 1895 to 1987." In "U.S. Data Since 1895 Fail To Show Warming Trend," by Philip Shabecoff, New York Times, 26 January 1989.

 

Addendum of Remembering the Good Old Days of 1986:   "Scientists are warning Congress that the long-feared overheating of the Earth from air pollution is moving faster than expected. 'The fact that the green house effect is real is proven,' said James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Hansen said the average US temperature had risen 1 to 2 degrees since 1958, and was predicted to increase 3 or 4 more degrees by 2010." In "Greenhouse effect is speeding up," Milwaukee Journal, 11 June 1986.

 

Addendum of Remembering the Good Old Days of 1975:   "Many climatologists see these signs as evidence that a significant shift in climate is taking palce -- a shift that could be the forerunner of an Ice Age that which gripped much of the Northern Hemisphere before retreating 11,000 years ago. ...One statistic stands out: a study of temperatures around the globe shows the atmosphere has been growing cooler for 30 years. The total drop is less than one degree, but in terms of meteorology, that is significant." In "Significant Shift in Climate Seen," by Howard Benedict, Associated Press, 2 March 1975.

 

Addendum in Cold Agreement From 1975:    " 'The onset of this climatic decline could be several thousand years in the future,' it said, 'although there is a finite probability that a serious worldwide cooling could befall the earth within the next hundred years." In "Climate Changes Called Ominous," Harold M. Schmeck, New York Times, 19 January 1975.

 

Addendum of Remembering the Good Old Days of 1972:   "Prof. Hubert Lamb, director of climate research at the University of East Anglia, had a few comforting thoughts in an interview Sunday: 'The full impact of the new Ice Age will not be upon us for another 11,000 years and even then it will not be as severe as the last great glacial period. We are past the best of the interglacial period which happened between 7,00 and 3,000 years ago,' he continued. 'Ever since then we have been on a downhill float regarding temperature. There may be a few upward fluctuations from time to time but these are more than offset by the general downward trend." In "New Ice Age Slipping Over North," Associated Press, 11 September 1972.

 

Addendum of Remembering the Good Old Days of 1970:   "Air pollution may obliterate the sun and could cause a new ice age in the first third of the next century if population continues to grow and the earth's resources are consumed at the present rate, a pollution expert predicted yesterday. James P. Lodge Jr. also warned that if the current rate of increase in electric power generation continues, the demands for cooling water will boil dry the entire flow of the rivers and streams of continental Unites States." In "Scientist predicts a new ice age by 21st century," Boston Globe, 16 April 1970.

 

Addendum of Remembering the Good Old Days of 1969:    "A senior U.N. environmental official says entire nations could be wiped off the face of the Earth by rising sea levels if the global warming trend is not reversed by the year 2000." In "U.N. Predicts Disaster if Global Warming Not Checked," by Peter James Speilmann, Associated Press, 30 June 1969.

 

Addendum of Remembering the Good Old Days of 1934:   "It was the hottest day in Cincinnati history, during the hottest week in Cincinnati history and that torrid record still stands 85 years later. The summer of 1934 was a hot one all around the United States, but the focus of the heat—as if a magnifying glass was aiming a blistering sunbeam at us—was the Ohio Valley around Cincinnati. A couple of days in June topped the 100-degree mark, but the real inferno started around July 18 when the mercury ran above 94 degrees. Next day, it was 98.6, setting a record for July 19."    In "Cincinnati Has Never Topped Records Set in the Heat Wave of 1934," by Greg Hand, Cincinnati Magazine, 23 July 2019.

 

Addendum of Remembering the Good Old Days of Centuries Ago and Decades Ahead:    " '[In the cycle between 2030 and around 2040] the two waves exactly mirror each other – peaking at the same time but in opposite hemispheres of the sun,' she said. 'Their interaction will be disruptive, or they will nearly cancel each other. We predict that this will lead to the properties of a 'Maunder minimum'.'  Maunder minimum, indicating low sunspot activity, was the name given to the period between 1645 and 1715, when Europe and North America experienced very cold winters." In "Earth heading for 'mini ice age' within 15 years," by Dan Hyde, Telegraph UK, 11 July 2015.

 

Addendum of Predictions Not Possible:   "This is not actually a radical idea. The IPCC in its third report (2001) conceded (emphasis added), In climate research and modelling, we should recognize that we are dealing with a coupled non-linear chaotic system, and therefore that the long-term prediction of future climate states is not possible. (Chapter 14, Section 14.2.2.2. )] Somehow that official warning was deep-sixed by the alarmists. Now Nakamura has found it again, further accusing the orthodox scientists of 'data falsification' by adjusting previous temperature data to increase apparent warming 'The global surface mean temperature-change data no longer have any scientific value and are nothing except a propaganda tool to the public,' he writes." In "A Climate Modeller Spills the Beans," by Tony Thomas, Quadrant, 23 September 2019.   ^{[ 1 ]}

 

Addendum of the Pointless and Grievous:   "The general-circulation models of climate on which international policy is at present founded are unfit for their purpose. Therefore, it is cruel as well as imprudent to advocate the squandering of trillions on the basis of results from such immature models. Current climate policies pointlessly, grievously undermine the economic system, putting lives at risk in countries denied access to affordable, continuous electrical power. We urge you to follow a climate policy based on sound science, realistic economics and genuine concern for those harmed by costly but unnecessary attempts at mitigation." In "Brief CLINTEL aan VN-baas Guterres," 23 September 2019.    ^{[ 2 ]}

 

Addendum of Predicting Higher Taxes:   "In order to effectively keep future warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, the IPCC says carbon taxes would need to range from $135 to $5,500 per ton in 2030, $245 to $13,000 per ton in 2050, $420 to $17,000 per ton in 2070 and $690 to $27,000 per ton in 2100. To meet the goals of the Paris accord, which seeks to limit future warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, the IPCC says carbon taxes would have range between $10 and $200 in 2030 and $160 and $2,125 in 2100." In "A $240 Per Gallon Gas Tax To Fight Global Warming? New UN Report Suggests Carbon Pricing," by Michael Bastasch, Daily Caller, 8 October 2018.  ^{[ 3 ]}

 

Addendum of Remembering the Good Old Days of a Next Ice Age:    "Using computer simulations, the research suggests that an increase in sea ice could significantly alter the circulation of the ocean, ultimately leading to a reverse greenhouse effect as carbon dioxide levels in the ocean increase and levels in the air decrease. 'One key question in the field is still what caused the Earth to periodically cycle in and out of ice ages,' University of Chicago professor and the study's co-author, Malte Jansen, said in a statement. 'We are pretty confident that the carbon balance between the atmosphere and ocean must have changed, but we don’t quite know how or why'." In "Explosion in Antarctic sea ice levels may cause another ice age," by Chris Ciaccia, Fox News, 30 October 2019.    ^{[ 4 ]}

 

Addendum of Proposing More and Higher Taxes:   "The proposal includes an increase in carbon taxes...." In "EU Parliament declares 'climate emergency'," Deutsche Welle, 28 November 2019.    ^{[ 5 ]}

 

Addendum of  Searching for New Advertising Verbiage:     "...politicians latched onto global warming because it sounded more worrisome (the Earth is heating too fast). But it was too easy to poke holes in because the Earth was also getting colder. During polar vortex storms, skeptics often tweet that it 'sure would be nice for some of that 'global warming' right about now.' Politicians then pivoted to 'climate change.' This concept was less easy to deny, but also less compelling and less actionable. This leads me to wonder: Is there a better way to convey the urgency of the situation, while also encouraging folks to take action?" In "Renaming climate change: Can a new name finally make us take action?" by Aaron Hall, Ad Age, 27 November 2019.   ^{[ 6 ]}

 

No, Really, It's too hot, and it's too cold  - a cabaret song in the Russian style

 

NOTE   [ 1 ]    Nakamura is cited:   "He is contemptuous of claims about models being 'validated', saying the modellers are merely 'trying to construct narratives that justify the use of these models for climate predictions.' And he concludes, 'The take-home message is (that) all climate simulation models, even those with the best parametric representation scheme for convective motions and clouds, suffer from a very large degree of arbitrariness in the representation of processes that determine the atmospheric water vapor and cloud fields. Since the climate models are tuned arbitrarily …there is no reason to trust their predictions/forecasts."           "....nothing but a propaganda tool to the public."   Propaganda and Repeatedly False             As the many sourced addenda above and many others prove, "None of the apocalyptic predictions with due dates as of today have come true. What follows is a collection of notably wild predictions from notable people in government and science. More than merely spotlighting the failed predictions, this collection shows that the makers of failed apocalyptic predictions often are individuals holding respected positions in government and science. While such predictions have been and continue to be enthusiastically reported by a media eager for sensational headlines, the failures are typically not revisited." In "Wrong Again: 50 Years of Failed Eco-pocalyptic Predictions," by Myron Ebell and Steven J. Milloy, CEI, 18 September 2019.   [ 2 ]    But the point of such "immature" models is to pry loose public funds for the purpose of redistribution of wealth worldwide.   International Socialism Via Climate Policy             An assertion without a basis?  One reads:  "...listen to the words of former United Nations climate official Ottmar Edenhofer: 'One has to free oneself from the illusion that international climate policy is environmental policy. This has almost nothing to do with the environmental policy anymore, with problems such as deforestation or the ozone hole," said Edenhofer, who co-chaired the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change working group on Mitigation of Climate Change from 2008 to 2015. So what is the goal of environmental policy? 'We redistribute de facto the world's wealth by climate policy,' said Edenhofer." In "Another Climate Alarmist Admits Real Motive Behind Warming Scare," Investor's Business Daily, 29 March 2016.           The good old days of 2010 brings the original quote in German:   "Grundsätzlich ist es ein grosser Fehler, Klimapolitik abgetrennt von den grossen Themen der Globalisierung zu diskutieren. Der Klimagipfel in Cancún Ende des Monats ist keine Klimakonferenz, sondern eine der grössten Wirtschaftskonferenzen seit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg. Warum? Weil wir noch 11 000 Gigatonnen Kohlenstoff in den Kohlereserven unter unseren Füssen haben – und wir dürfen nur noch 400 Gigatonnen in der Atmosphäre ablagern, wenn wir das 2-Grad-Ziel halten wollen. 11 000 zu 400 – da führt kein Weg daran vorbei, dass ein Grossteil der fossilen Reserven im Boden bleiben muss." Quote of Ottmar Edenhofer, in "Klimapolitik verteilt das Weltvermögen neu," NZZ am Sonntag, 14 November 2010.           Translation:  "Basically it's a big mistake to discuss climate policy separately from the major themes of globalization. The climate summit in Cancun at the end of the month is not a climate conference, but one of the largest economic conferences since the Second World War. Why? Because we have 11,000 gigatons of carbon in the coal reserves in the soil under our feet - and we must emit only 400 gigatons in the atmosphere if we want to keep the 2-degree target. 11 000 to 400 - there is no getting around the fact that most of the fossil reserves must remain in the soil."   It's Only Logical, They Say             Remembering the good old days of such admission, one reads years later:   "Because they facilitate growth and (over)consumption, globalisation and trade have enabled many densely-populated high-income countries (most western European nations and Japan) to greatly exceed their domestic carrying capacities. These nations live mostly on imported biocapacity – they are running 'ecological deficit' with other nations and the global commons. Not every country can be a net importer of bioresources: the development path worn by first-world nations cannot be followed by developing countries. (Note that the bloated eco-footprints of many high-income countries make them effectively more over-populated than poorer countries with nominally higher population densities.) In particular, it is irresponsible for the governments of high-income countries to treat economic growth as the panacea for all that ails them." In "Wealth redistribution and population management are the only logical way forward," by William E. Rees, Guardian UK, 22 May 2017.           One may evaluate the above concerns and vocabulary in terms of the standard Marxist redistribution language. After all, Marx termed his theory :"scientific socialism."  There no getting around the fact that bureaucrats and politicians have always trafficked in being an elite, knowing more than "the masses."           It does well to recall the class argument:  A Working Class Classified .   [ 3 ]    The United Nations isn't united enough to collect its dues, as one reads of questions as to why some are asking a most pertinent question:  The question's fair .           So who will pay and for what?  For the climate, the IPCC of the UN wants to Raise those taxes .   $49 per Gallon of Gasoline or Diesel?             A lot. One reads:   "If Paris streets burned over a proposed 25 cents per gallon climate change tax, imagine the global conflagration over a $49 per gallon tax. That’s what a United Nations special climate report calls for in 12 years, with a carbon tax of $5,500 per ton—equal to $49 per gallon of gasoline or diesel. That’s about 100 times today’s average state and federal motor fuels tax. By 2100, the U.N. estimates that a carbon tax of $27,000 per ton is needed—$240 per gallon—to limit global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius." In "Paris Is Burning Over Climate Change Taxes -- Is America Next?" by Chuck DeVore, Forbes, 7 December 2018.           One will be asking in the future as now:  Do you remember the good old days?   [ 4 ]    The article, reported on and published in Nature Geoscience, is titled "Global cooling linked to increased glacial carbon storage via changes in Antarctic sea ice," by Alice Marzocchi and Malte F. Jansen, 5 September 2019.  It ends with "Although the specific numbers may need to be interpreted with caution because of the idealized model set-up, the key conclusion that sea ice dynamics and the associated circulation changes lead to an increase in glacial carbon drawdown well beyond the solubility effect alone is likely to be robust. The results, therefore, highlight the critical role of Antarctic sea ice in our understanding of glacial–interglacial transitions and that physical changes alone, triggered directly by atmospheric cooling, can provide a major contribution to the lowering of glacial atmospheric CO2 concentrations. This would be consistent with the close coupling between CO2 and Antarctic air temperatures, as observed in the ice core record."           One observes that while these scientists and researchers urge caution, while the politicians and money-seekers urge Immediate and drastic action - hysteria gaining traction.  Remember the good old days before political hysteria and the calls to arms?   [ 5 ]    Someone's going to get richer while more get poorer. "In a statement on Twitter after the vote, EU lawmakers urged the European Commission 'to fully ensure all relevant legislative and budgetary proposals are fully aligned' with the 1.5-degrees-Celsius (2.7-degrees-Fahrenheit) target limit on global warming."    Cold Hard Cash to Burn Because....             Budgetary proposals means many will pay and few will get paid, usually handsomely. And carbon taxes will be enforced, if this "relevant legislative" strategy proceeds. From that ice age emergency of 1975 to the "earth has a fever" of 2007, to the competing forecasts of both hot and cold, one thing remains constant. Government has sought, seeks and will seek "cold hard cash" to "burn" through its fingers.    Remember the Good Old Days?           One could consider the good old days of governments' evident and consistent Incompetence - from whence to thence.           Add to such a survey governments' demonstrated Bankrupt green , and stir in the oft-proven fact of governments' Corruption and the oft-reported tale of governments' Corruption continuing .           The crisis is deeply important. One notes:  "Since nobody wants to overthrow capitalism for the usual trumped-up reasons — inequality, worker oppression, racism, fascism, rising corporate control, globalization, middle-class decline, greedy bankers, private property —the scientific claim of a climate crisis offers a new justification. From Greta’s Extinction Rebellion to Green New Deal advocates in the United States to the champions of socialism in Europe, the left is using climate change to push an another agenda." In "Why the left loves a climate crisis," by Terence Corcoran, Financial Post, 4 December 2019.           Knit together with the statement above as "commissions" seek to "ensure all relevant legislative and budgetary proposals," Corcoran observes:   "How far the left will be able to ride climate change as a sort of autonomous electric vehicle on the road to socialism will depend on how soon a broader population of workers and middle-class voters realize they are being taken for a ride."   Remember to Follow the Money             Given the corruption endemic to governments around the world, one will find a well-demonstrated emergency for which one needs no computer models and "consensus" to identify. It all come down to continual cry of emergencies:  Raise those taxes!           The government-connected elite rich need more money. It is an emergency, and a crisis if they do not get it. Thus it reduces down to actions necessary to insure the jet set perquisites and The Privileges of Intellectuals .   [ 6 ]    Among the advertising strategy's possible new verbiage, according to Hall, one finds that he has proposed many --  1) Global Meltdown, 2) Global Melting, 3) Climate Collapse, 4) Climate Chaos, 5) Boiling Point, 6) Melting Point, 7) Scorched Earth, 8) Emission Critical, 9) Planet Critical, 10) Pre-Extinction, 11) The Great Collapse, and the one word, "Earthshattering."   World War Zero             Joining in the heated hyperbole coolly calculated,  one reads:   "The name, World War Zero, is supposed to evoke both the national security threat posed by the earth's warming and the type of wartime mobilization that Mr. Kerry argued would be needed to stop the rise in carbon emissions before 2050. The star-studded group is supposed to win over those skeptical of the policies that would be needed to accomplish that. Former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter are part of the effort. Moderate Republican lawmakers like Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former governor of California, and John Kasich, the former governor of Ohio, are on the list. Stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Sting and Ashton Kutcher round out the roster of more than 60 founding members. Their goal is to hold more than 10 million 'climate conversations' in the coming year with Americans across the political spectrum." In "John Kerry Launches Star-Studded Climate Coalition," by Lisa Friedman, New York Times, 30 November 2019.             The Stars Come Out             Other similar star-studded events have enlisted an elite intent on preserving their elite status, such as those mentioned in Prince La-di-dah and gazillionaires   Who can deny their privileges?           "Before 2050," or thirty years from the World War Zero start-up. Yet from the BBC in its July 2019 article cited above, stated clearly "there's a growing consensus that the next 18 months will be critical in dealing with the global heating crisis...."  Hyperbole is piled onto hyperbole.            And the heated hyperbole disagrees with itself, as one hears:   "If we don't fix climate change, like, now, we don't have four years. We're done. We're done. We're done." Michael Moore, Late Night with Seth Meyers, NBC, 21 January 2020.           But even thought "we're done," the forecasts roll one:   "The number of people worldwide struggling with extreme heat and humidity by the end of the century could be more than four times as many as today if planet-warming emissions continue to rise, hiking economic losses and health costs, scientists have warned." In "Climate change set to make extreme heat more common - and costly," by Laurie Goerin, Thomson Reuters, 25 March 2020.  Could be....           Eighteen months. Four years. Twelve years. "...before 2050."  And so on.   Mankind's War Against Nature?             "The world must stop a 'war against nature' and find more political will to combat climate change, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday, the eve of a two-week global climate summit in Madrid." In " 'War against nature must stop,' U.N. chief says before climate talks," by Isla Binnie, Reuters, 1 December 2019.           For this Ad Age advertising-oriented survey of hyperbolic language and the UN's amplification, it is suggested that mankind be accused of being The Scourge of the Planet has been a consistent effort for decades now.  We mere mortals are the scourge, the cancer on the planet, excepting of course those elevated above, those self-confessed "betters" who would rule by wailing aloud with threats and accusations, by visions of an Apocalypse sometime .   Sticking Points on How To....             And yet, a "sticking points remain, not least over an article on how to put a price on emissions, and so allow them to be traded," reported Reuters. To war against nature requires traders being made wealthy as merchants of carbon 'indulgences', while the many experience a war on tax payers which may called a well-documented, long term government policy of Bankrupt green .           The goal of the latest climate conference in Madrid, which was to have been in Chile until the masses revolted against price rises due to good old politics remains to "...provide financing to poor countries." In "UN climate talks face collapse after world leaders cannot agree on compensation deal for poorer nations," Agence France Presse, 14 December 2019.           Income transfer. This will solve climate changes? Ottmar Edenhofer, as above, spoke clearly, openly and with devastating consequences. The proverbial cat is out of the bag.   Revising the Alarmist Language                     As those finding the potential response to such "earthshattering" -- one word, now, per the latest advertising proposals -- a revision is proposed. Accepting the hyperbole but applying it to those who would rule over others, one might easily rewrite the scenario.           Renaming governance: Can a new name finally make us take action? Government meltdown? Government melting? Government collapse? Government chaos? Governments' boiling point? Governments' scorched earth, when they do not get their way over mere citizens? Government collapse? All such have been the demonstrable, historical truth of governments. It is indeed a matter of How it's pictured, how it's seen - images and what we mean.           If governments and their coterie of those morally and intellectually superior supporters who would so easily rule over others do not win the day -- again, as in the past -- it will indeed be The End .            For them.

---

 

Prince La-di-dah and gazillionaires

"A host of A-list celebrities faced an angry backlash today after they travelled to a climate change conference in Italy in a fleet of supercars, expensive yachts and more than 100 private jets. Guests at the secretive Google Camp were accused of hypocrisy after they gathered this week to discuss the environment while leaving a considerable carbon footprint of their own. Prince Harry is understood to have given a passionate barefoot speech about saving the planet, although Buckingham Palace has refused to confirm his attendance or whether he too travelled by private jet." In "Backlash at barefoot Prince Harry and 'hypocrite Greenerati': Eco-warrior elite who turned up at secret climate change Google camp in 114 private jets, helicopters and mega yachts are mocked for leaving their own carbon footprint," by Tim Stickings and Dianne Apen-Sadler, Mail Online, 1 August 2019.   ^{[ 1 ]}

 

    Prince La-di-dah and gazillionaires, just a few,
Gathered themselves in secret to lecture little you.
    Lord Silver Screen and Old Moneybags too
Assembled to gaggle with a Goggle in that brew.
    Celebrity camp convened -- see, oh too! to spew,
They posed for photos picturing them, these oh-so well-to-do.
    High and mighty poobahs descended right on cue,
Congratulating at their mirrors, reflections of who's who.
    Greenerati's now the word; from this one may construe
The little people now have noticed hypocrisy's rendezvous.

 

Addendum of the Wokerati:    "The Gulfstreams, mega-yachts and gas-guzzling Maserati SUVs used to ferry the wokerati around the seaside Google Camp have been spewing out greenhouse gases at the rate of small nations. Former President Barack Obama, actor Leonardo DiCaprio, singer Katy Perry and Prince Harry are said to be among 300 guests invited by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to their luxurious annual shindig which has been dubbed 'Davos by the Sea.' Either they don’t believe climate change is the big problem they keep saying it is, or they just don't care enough about saving the planet to give up their perks." In "Google's celeb-obsessed search for climate change answers is a hypocritical joke," by Miranda Devine, New York Post, 31 July 2019.   ^{[ 2 ]}

 

Addendum of  the Super-rich and their Aircraft:    "Despite their huge carbon footprint, demand for new private jets is expected to continue to grow next year, according to the report. Over the next decade, the number of new private jets taking to the skies is expected to total 7,600 – costing buyers a combined $248bn (£193bn). One-fifth of the new jets is expected to be ordered by 'super-emitter' celebrities and other members of the richest 1% of the population, who use the planes to fly between their homes in the world’s most desirable locations. The jets are also bought by big companies to ferry executives across the world. There are currently more than 4,600 private jets operating." In "Super-rich fuelling growing demand for private jets, report finds," by Rupert Neate, Guardian, 27 October 2019.

 

NOTES   [ 1 ]    The article reports:  "BBC presenter Andrew Neil was among those to point out the irony, saying: 'Scores of celebrities and the rich have arrived in Sicily for a Google conference. They came in 114 private jets and a flotilla of super yachts. The conference is on global warming.' "           But "they" say they are sorry. One reads:   "Celebrities have issued a mea culpa to the media today in response to criticism that they are guilty of being hypocrites for backing Extinction Rebellion and continuing to live high carbon lives. The open letter has been signed by more than 100 high profile names, including actors, musicians, comedians, writers and even a former Archbishop of Canterbury." In "Celebrities backing Extinction Rebellion say 'yes, we are all hypocrites' in open letter to media," 16 October 2019.           Names mentioned on the "mea culpa" letter did not include those of "Prince La-di-dah and gazillionaires, just a few" or some "Lord Silver Screen and Old Moneybags too." Hmm.           Of a prince La-di-dah and speaker for the "A-listers" at the Google Camp, one finds:   "A royal security source told The Sun on Sunday: 'While the guys are happy to be out there doing the jobs, there is a feeling they are carrying out menial tasks, like picking up takeaways and groceries. 'They are close protection officers - and should be sticking solely to close protection rather than running errands." In "'We're treated like SKIVVIES': Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Scotland Yard protection officers 'claim they're sent on errands like picking up royals' groceries and coffees' in Canada," by Luke Andrews, Mail Online, 2 February 2020.           La-di-dah....           But then again:  "PRINCE Harry was duped into offering to help a fictional island called 'Chunga-Changa' by Russian prankers posing as Greta Thunberg. More details of the calls between Harry and two notorious hoaxers emerged today after the pair fooled him into believing he was talking to the teenage climate activist." In "FAIRYTALE PRINCE Prince Harry duped into offering to help fictional island of ‘Chunga-Changa’ by pranksters posing as Greta Thunberg," by Matt Wilkinson, The Sun UK, 11 March 2020.           That's worth a speech to the denizens of Google Camp, isn't it?   [ 2 ]    The "wokearti" and "greenerati," as reports now coin new words for the same old games of power and wealth dressed in the modern garb of green, need become more circumspect, or the public will observe too clearly that soon the world will be discussing real Moolah , at historical levels never before seen.           The interplay between power and wealth -- now self-portrayed as an "eco-warrior elite" -- has been the character of governance and wannabe governance over centuries. Those with enormous power and wealth can even Bankrupt green , as they in a political class and by political methods stealthily acquire Bankrupt riches - the data snitches.

---

 

Fools' Delight

"Hank Hanegraaf, The Bible Answer Man, and head of Christian Research Institutes said, 'When you begin to examine world religions such as Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism, you will immediately recognize that they directly contradict one another. For example, Moses taught that there was only one God; Krishna believed in many gods; and Buddha was agnostic—a personal, prayer-answering God played no role in his worldview.' And the bottom line, Hanegraaf said, that majority of theologians do agree on about the various religions is....'Logically, they can all be wrong, but they can't all be right'."   In "Was AOC correct when she suggested all religions worship the same God? Experts weigh in," by Lauren Green, Fox News, 20 June 2019.

 

They can all be wrong
But cannot all be right,
And what's unseen
Remains well out of sight.

Illiterates preach
A oneness of God
Inclusive of opposites.
That's simply rather odd.

Murder for God?
Or God forbid?
The obvious answer
Remains well hid?

They can all be wrong
But cannot all be right.
Just believing they can
Is the fools' delight.

 

Addendum of Similar Voices of Difference:   "...a healthy corrective to a sloppy notion: Contrary to current sentimental wisdom, the world's religions do not have a common goal, are not all beautiful and true, do not all follow 'different paths up the same mountain.' The 'world’s religious rivals,' Prothero writes, '. . . diverge sharply on doctrine, ritual, mythology, experience, and law. . . . [I]t is comforting to pretend that the great religions make up one big, happy family. But this sentiment, however well-intentioned, is neither accurate nor ethically responsible'." In "A world of difference," by Alec Solomita, Boston Globe, 23 May 2010.

 

Addendum of an Intolerant Sentiment:   "Narrated Abu Huraira: The Verse:--'You (true Muslims) are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind' means, the best of peoples for the people, as you bring them with chains on their necks till they embrace Islam." In "Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Prophetic Commentary on the Qur'an, Hadith 80."

 

One could consider:   Darwin's God  and one should ponder on the strange enthusiasm to Coexist

 

One should consider the Islamic Distinction that:   There's God and then there's Allah

---

 

Two teared society -- Californian propriety

 

"California may be an economic powerhouse with global impact, but it also has the nation’s highest poverty rate, as calculated by the Census Bureau using a method that takes into account the cost of living, with nearly a fifth of its residents poverty-stricken." In "Commentary: California’s two-tier society," by Dan Walters, Sacramento Bee, 2 August 2019.

 

Will you stand out in relief

                    against those with a mushy mind?
Will you find yourself well ahead

                    when the many are left behind?
Will you shed a tear or two

                    with government castes defined?
Will you be in the upper tier

                    as the lower caste's refined?
Will you? If you surely will,

                    then be pleased or at least resigned
To vote with the system's two tiered game

                    as over decades it's been designed.

 

Addendum of Tiers Foreseen:  "The possible emerging of a 2-tier economy with Asians and non-Hispanic whites competing for the high status positions while Hispanics and blacks struggle to get the low paying service jobs is described." In "Population change and California's future, " by L. F. Bouvier and P. Martin, Population Reference Bureau, Washington D. C. 1985.

 

Addendum of Public Pension Envy:    "... it can be considered the canary in the coal mine, signaling stresses on the system as a whole. Such payouts also tend to inspire 'pension envy' in private-sector workers who must depend on 401(k)s and Social Security for income in their golden years — and who are ultimately on the hook for ensuring that public retirees get paid if CalPERS investments don’t cover the costs. The average Social Security benefit is $17,532 this year. Most Americans will never make $100,000 a year in their prime working years, much less in retirement, according to the U.S. Census Bureau." In "Number of pensioned public retirees in California’s $100K Club skyrockets," by Teri Sforza, Orange County Register, 5 August 2019.

 

Addendum of Leading the Nation:   "It has both billions of dollars in Silicon Valley and rampant homelessness. Its efforts to eliminate poverty instead accentuates it, and its tax system inadvertently aids those who are already wealthy. With the middle class leaving in droves, California society represents a modern feudal system of robber barons and the poor." In "Middle class is disappearing in California as wealth gap grows," by Kristin Tate, The Hill, 24 October 2018.  ^{[ 1 ]}

 

Addendum of the Protection Racket:   "Protecting CalPERS, however, means getting more money from its client agencies, which could drive some of them into insolvency, as Hutchings said. Three California cities have gone bankrupt in recent years, in part because of their ever-increasing pension burdens, and payments have escalated sharply since then. So on one hand, CalPERS is doing what it has to do to remain financially solvent, but on the other hand its self-protective steps threaten local government solvency. That’s the crisis in a nutshell." In "California’s public pension crisis in a nutshell," by San Francisco Chronicle, 21 February 2018.   ^{[ 2 ]}
 

Addendum of Growing Costs to Cities:    "Last year McDougal’s pension was about $337,000 — nearly a third more than the federal maximum for public pensions. The excess portion comes out of his former employer’s annual budget instead of the state’s public retirement system. Taxes on the above-limits portions of the pensions cost cities and counties extra, consuming taxpayer money that could go toward street maintenance, parks, police or firefighters." In " More than 1,000 public pensions in California are so big they exceed IRS limits," by Wes Venteicher, Sacramento Bee, 6 August 2019.

 

Addendum of the State Against the State:    "The rat infestation, meanwhile, has found its way into conservative media where pundits are using it akin to a slapstick punchline for commentary on the state's liberal policies. But the rat infestation combined with a pesticide ban is no laughing matter to some experts, who say a disease outbreak similar to the one in Los Angeles could happen in downtown Sacramento if rats such as those infesting the CalEPA headquarters aren’t kept in check." In "As rats overrun California cities, state moves to ban powerful pest-killers," by Ryan Sabalow and Phillip Reese, Tribune, San Luis Obispo, 25 July 2019.

 

Addendum of California - Number One in Poverty:   "Overall, therefore, more than 35% of Californians, perhaps 15 million human beings, are living in severe economic distress — a number nearly identical to enrollment in Medi-Cal, the state’s health care program for the poor. The deepest roots of California’s two-tier society lie in the traumatic evolution of the state’s economy in the 1980s and 1990s from an industrial base to one rooted in services and technology, and the state’s concurrent absorption of millions of often undereducated immigrants." In "California still No. 1 in poverty," by Dan Walters, CAL Matters, 15 September 2019.

 

Addendum of California's Tax Hike:   "A new study published on Monday showed that when California raised its income tax rates it caused a 'substantial one-time out-migration response' among wealthy residents, who left for lower-tax destinations. The study looked at increases to state income tax rates approved by California voters in Nov. 2012 (Propoisition 30) of one to three percentage points for upper-income households. It raised the top marginal tax rate to 13.3 percent for incomes of more than $1 million." In "California tax hike caused 'significant' out-migration of top-bracket millionaire residents, study shows," by Brittany De Lea, Fox Business, 8 October 2019.

 

Addendum of a Self-Inflicted, Prioritized Mess:   "PG&E shifted its priority to the overpriced renewables at the behest of politicians, The Wall Street Journal explained in an article aptly titled 'California’s Dark Ages.' For years, the utility skimped on safety upgrades and repairs while pumping billions into green energy and electric-car subsidies to please its overlords in Sacramento. Credit Suisse has estimated that long-term contracts with developers of renewables cost the utility $2.2 billion annually more than current market power rates. Now, in large parts of California, if you want to keep the lights on during the blackouts, you better have a flashlight or a gas lamp. Twenty-first century green dreams have led to 19th-century realities." In "California blackouts are a self-inflicted mess – Don't just blame PG&E for the new Dark Ages," by Jarrett Stepman, Fox News, 28 October 2019.    ^{[ 3 ]}

 

Addendum of Some Members of the Top Tier:   " 'To put these high pensions into perspective, a guaranteed $200,000 annual pension for 25 years would require a nest egg of about $4 million,' said Stanford public policy professor and former Assemblyman Joe Nation. While Hayes-White tops the list of city pensioners, she’s not even in the top 10 when it comes to the Bay Area. Former Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff, who retired in 2009 after working for the county for 39 years, received $364,337 in pension payments in 2018. Former Alameda County Sheriff’s Capt. Michael Peterson, who retired in 2006, received $338,413.62 in pension benefits last year. And former County Auditor-Controller Patrick O’Connell, who retired in 2016, gets $323,878.32 from the Alameda County Employees Retirement Association." In "Sweet deal: Some retired public employees’ pensions bigger than their salaries were," by Phil Matier, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 September 2019.   ^{[ 4 ]}

 

Addendum of Some Members Even Higher in the Top Tier:   "Unfortunately, the new aristocracy adopted mindsets antithetical to the general welfare of Californians living outside their coastal enclaves. The nobodies have struggled to buy high-priced gas, pay exorbitant power bills, and deal with shoddy infrastructure—all of which resulted from the policies of the distant somebodies. California’s three most powerful politicians—House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and Gov. Gavin Newsom—are all multimillionaires. Their lives, homes, and privileges bear no resemblance to those of other Californians living with the consequences of their misguided policies and agendas." In "California Shows The Limits Of Progressivism," by Victor Davis Hanson, National Interest, 3 November 2019.   ^{[ 5 ]}

 

Addendum of Leaving:   "Many Republicans say high taxes, expensive housing costs and education are just a few of the potential reasons why people could be hitting the road and leaving California behind. 'You know, the pendulum swings in both directions and sometimes we swing too far to the left and you come back to the right. We go too far to the right and we try to balance in the center. I think right now we are swinging a little far to the left and I think people are feeling the repercussions,' said Jim Mosby, Lompoc City Council Member." In "Study finds Republicans are more likely to consider leaving California," by Alex Gonzales, KSBY/Mercury News, 6 November 2019.

 

Addendum I from California:   "Two retired Los Angeles city employees—Earl Paysinger, a former deputy police chief, and Emile Mack, a former assistant fire chief—pulled down more than $1.4 million apiece in pension benefits last year, giving them the largest nest eggs across all California's public retirement systems. Last week Transparent California released data showing that more than 62,000 retired California public workers earn at least six figures in annual retirement benefits. Paysinger and Mack are two of the seven members of the exclusive million-dollar pension club." In "California's Six-Figure Pension Club Has 62,000 Members," by Eric Boehm, Reason, 23 October 2019.

 

Notice the State's Public Pension Income Inequality  and consider the instructive tale of  Three Little Democrats

 

Addendum II from California:    "Almost 80,000 retired public employees in California are drawing pensions in excess of $100,000 per year, according to an analysis of 2018 pension payout data by Transparent California. The $100,000 club members collected 20 percent of the $51.7 billion in total public pension payments made last year in California. Both the number of six-figure pensions and the total payout were new record highs. If public pensions were a competitive sport, California’s trophies would weigh enough to sink the state. In fact, the pensions are sinking the state. California has hundreds of billions of dollars in unfunded pension debt — the difference between what current and retired public workers are promised and the assets available to fund those payouts." In "California’s 100k club grows as tax hikes mount," by Editorial Board, Orange County Register, 8 November 2019.

 

Addendum of a California High:   "California, with some of the most strict gun laws in the country, had the most, with eight such mass slayings." In "US mass killings hit new high in 2019, most were shootings," by Lisa Marie Pane, Associated Press, 28 December 2019.

 

Addendum of Building California's Bottom Tier:    "In the report, the second 'key finding' singled out California. It said: 'While homelessness in most states declined between 2018 and 2019, homelessness in California increased by 16 percent, or 21,306 people. The large increase in California is reflected in a nationwide increase of 3 percent, or 14,885 people experiencing homelessness, between 2018 and 2019'. HUD Secretary Ben Carson also didn’t mince words in his memo included in the 2019 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress. He wrote, 'This year's report shows that there was a small increase in the one-night estimates of people experiencing homelessness across the nation between 2018 and 2019 (3%), which reflects a 16 percent increase in California, and offsets a marked decrease across many other states'." In "Surging California homeless 'crisis' offsets drop in nation: HUD," by Paul Bedard, Washington Examiner, 7 January 2020.

 

Addendum of a California Higher:   "Despite California’s $54 billion budget deficit and $1 trillion unfunded pension liability, there are 340,390 government employees bringing home six-figure salary and pension checks. Recently, though, Gov. Gavin Newsom asked U.S. taxpayers for a bailout." In "Why California Is In Trouble – 340,000 Public Employees With $100,000+ Paychecks Cost Taxpayers $45 Billion," by Adam Andrzejewski, Forbes, 19 May 2020.

 

Addendum to Benefit the Rich:   "Our water and electricity policies boost the costs of those necessary products—and the state adds to our sky-high tax burdens by doling out subsidies. California imposes alternative-energy requirements that force it to import 29 percent of our electricity, raising prices on those who can least afford it. Then researchers are shocked to discover that California's energy policies impose disproportionate costs on poor folks. The solution is to promote energy abundance, freer markets and less regulation—rather than to create even more programs or to hector suburbanites who 'overconsume' air conditioning to cool their homes." In "California's Energy Regulations Hurt the Poor, While 'Green' Subsidies Benefit the Rich," by Steven Greenhut, Reason, 10 July 2020.

 

Addendum of Two Californias:   "Last week we had Salongate when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was caught on security cameras visiting a San Francisco hair salon for a wash and blow-out, despite Gov. Gavin Newsom's business lockdown orders, and local ordinances keeping hair and nail salons closed during the coronavirus pandemic. Now we find out gyms located inside of government buildings in San Francisco have been open for months, despite privately owned gyms and fitness centers still ordered closed because of Gov. Newsom's business lockdown over coronavirus. If that is not enough, Central Coast Congressional Candidate Andy Caldwell reported to the Globe that the Santa Barbara Unified School District allowed the children of teachers and district employees to return to in-class learning, in a secret carve-out exemption at Franklin, McKinley, and other elementary schools in the district. No one wants to be condescended to and lectured by foolish politicians who aren’t adhering to the rules and restrictions they put in place. This egregious behavior only serves to prove to Californians that government officials – Speaker Pelosi, Gov. Newsom, public school teachers and the police officers, judges, lawyers, bailiffs, and paralegals using their government gyms – don't really believe there is any danger in going to a hair salon or working out in a gym, or being back in the classroom." In "Two Californias: One for Government Ruling Class, the Other for the People," by Katy Grimes, California Globe, 8 September 2020.

 

And the cry from the top tier will continue to be:   Raise those taxes!   alongside  Welfare for the few and rich  - something akin to bait and switch

 

And the bottom tier will eventually ask:   Should government be limited?

 

NOTES   [ 1 ]    The imagery of "a modern feudal system of robber barons and the poor" makes a sad picture of the two-tiered game of California Politics of late.            The article notes:   "From 2011 to 2016, California increased spending on administration at more than double that of teacher pay. Its public employee system disincentivizes government thrift and saddles taxpayers with debt that outstrips the national average. A private sector employee would have to save $2.6 million to receive the same retirement as a California Highway Patrol officer. On top of a burdensome state income tax, California has the highest sales tax in the country along with property tax rates that disproportionately punish the poor and lead to housing problems."           That the direction of a small percentage of "public servants" is towards wealth for the few and little for the many speaks volumes.   Faulty Prescriptions             The article aptly notes that "Traditional left wing prescriptions simply have not worked in the state, which an opinion column in the Los Angeles Times dubbed the 'poverty capital' of the United States. Housing vouchers increase the cost of living. The number of those with no health insurance in California fell by more than half after the state expanded Medicaid, yet poverty remains near historic highs. California spends the third most per capita on welfare programs, yet its economy continues to fail the poor and middle class."           That image of the robber barons and the poor gains traction as the Orange County article cited above speaks to "taxpayers now on the hook for 26,000 government pensions over $100,000, a 13-fold increase from 2005."  The trend is up, for more of the few "over $100,000" in a state with one-fifth of its citizens in poverty, according to the Sacramento Bee article.   Taxpayers on the Hook             A year after the Sacramento Bee article, one reads:  "Nearly 80,000 Californians collected six-figure taxpayer-funded pensions in 2018, as retirement costs leave half the state's cities at 'high risk' of serious financial distress, according to an analysis. Transparent California, a free-market think tank, found that 6 percent of retired government workers collected more than $100,000 in 2018, an 85 percent jump since 2013. Those payouts represented 20 percent of the $51.7 billion in total pension payments. Taxpayers spent a record-high $40 billion to cover the costs of public sector retirees in 2018, the report also found." In "Calif. Taxpayers on Hook for Six-Figure Government Pensions," by Yuichiro Kakutani, Washington Free Beacon, 7 November 2019.   [ 2 ]    That the state "public pension" entity threatens "local government insolvency" is quite like a protection racket. "Ever increasing burdens" to fund a growing number of public employee retirees is unsustainable economically.           The Chronicle observed:   "...the CalPERS board, dominated by public employee organizations and sympathetic politicians, has spurned such pleas. 'Our members have expressed frustration that you keep coming to them asking for more while at the same time not providing a lot of other options and assistance for them,' Dillon Gibbons of the California Special Districts Association told the board."           The growing tension is not one between political parties now. It is between retirees' growing demands for funds on the one hand, and those who are supposed to pony up on the other hand.   The painful squeeze by the Upper Tier of the Lower Tier             The Orange County Register article amplifies the San Francisco Chronicle in this:  "Former Democratic Assemblyman Joe Nation, now a professor at Stanford University’s Institute for Economic Policy Research, examined 14 public agencies and found that their average annual pension payments grew a stunning 400 percent from 2003 to 2018, while their operating expenditures grew only 46 percent. That’s a painful squeeze, and it’s far from over. Annual pension contributions will jump another 76 percent from 2018 to 2030, Nation found."           In a state dominated by Democrat party politics, this "crisis in a nutshell" ever more seems the "two-tier society" mirrors "robber barons and the poor." Oddly, the highest political offices in the state still seem to side with the "robber barons." One might guess they will be or wish to be among them.   [ 3 ]     As the state endures power blackouts from a public utility going through bankruptcy proceedings, one might consider the rhyme, addenda and footnotes which begins with an "exemplary" California bankruptcy. One may refresh an awareness of Bankrupt green .   [ 4 ]    The article notes:  " 'Those high payouts, along with poor planning generally, put California’s pension debt at more than $1 trillion, or nearly $80,000 for every household, according to Stanford’s Pension Tracker website,' Nation said. Those totals include state, county, city, special district and school district pensions."   $80,000 > $71,805 - income taxes and fees and the cost of living             It is predictable that this growing "public" debt will in time be repudiated by the public. The "nearly" amount for "every household" is observed to be larger alone than the media household income in this time of about  $71,805. Given that a household income is used to bear the costs of home ownership, raising a family and paying property taxes in California's counties, not to mention state income tax and fees, it is to be expected that voter revolt will come, and that the system of California Politics will come crashing down, one way or another.            Until that time, the top tier will rake the bottom tier of its economic future. This is declared legal. Such is the way of the world until.... Tick, tock.   [ 5 ]    Hanson does not explain these elected officials being so often re-elected to "represent" though so very un-representative. The phenomenon may be reviewed in a similar tale:   Voted   - not sugarcoated.

 

For an insight into how California politics has worked, consider a California story:  Three Little Democrats

---

 

Fifteen minutes

That bleating, fleeting fame,
Merely minutes long,
Dominates dumb media
With a bleeding leading song.

    Look here, look there,
    Look everywhere!
    Hot instant notoriety
    For a moment you will share.

    Look at me, look and see,
    Look! I'm everywhere;
    Social media's empty lies
    Fast fading in the glare.

That bleating, fleeting fame
Is over in a flash;
Another same competing game
Wins the next fool's dash.

 

Addendum of Branding:   "...it could have been Pontus Hultén, a famous curator in Europe, who coined the phrase. There are other claimants, too, including painter Larry Rivers and photographer Nat Finkelstein. Finkelstien insisted that he made the remark in reply to a comment that Warhol made about everyone wanting to be famous, quipping, 'Yeah, for about 15 minutes, Andy.' As Gopnik explains to Marketplace, Warhol himself admitted to never saying it in 1980. But by then, the line was firmly his. And as Gopnik points out, it really didn't matter. By that point, Warhol, an artist who explored the concept of branding, was firmly a brand of his own, and the 15-minutes quote fit in with that story nicely. 'We've decided it's by Warhol, whether he likes it or not,' Gopnik told Marketplace. 'We've created and continue to create the Warhol brand for ourselves'." In "Andy Warhol Probably Never Said His Celebrated 'Fifteen Minutes of Fame' Line," by Rachel Nuwer, Smithsonian, 8 April 2014.

 

Addendum of Early Branding:   "Even before heading off to New York in the late 1940s with little more than a degree in pictorial design from Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University) to call his own, Andy Warhola set out to make a name for himself. Literally. After considering several variations—including A. Warhola, André Warhola, and even Andy Morningstar—he opted for the relatively unadorned moniker Andy Warhol." In "The Invention of Andy Warhol," by Barbara Klein, Carnegie Museums, Summer 2018.

---

 

An apple is like a cat

An apple is like a cat
When language plays the fool,
For precision such as that
Makes words a truncheon tool.

A stone is like the wind
When language fumbles so,
That categories tumble
From haughty vertigo.

All things are like all things
When language makes it thus,
And simple lovely speech
Equates to those who cuss.

Language is a long wage
Which pays hard dividends,
When confusion reigns supreme
And what's upright upends.

---

 

I believe - to what I cleave

"Because, like with diamond rings or designer clothes of old, upper-class people don a luxury belief to separate themselves from the lower class. These beliefs, in turn, produce real, tangible consequences for disadvantaged people, further widening the divide. Just as fashionable clothing will soon be outdated, so will today’s fashionable beliefs. In the future, expect the upper class to defame even more values — including ones they hold dear — in their quest to gain top-dog status." In " 'Luxury beliefs' are the latest status," by Rob Henderson, New York Post, 17 August 2019.

 

Credo in me

 

I believe in fashion,

    designed with me in mind.
I believe in chic,

    which the many will not find.
I believe I'm special

    as I myself remind.
I believe in status

    which proves me so refined.
I believe I'm better

    than the bulk of humankind.
I believe in la-di-dah,

    with which I am aligned.

I believe in privilege

    when cleverly redefined.

I believe in the upper class

    to which I am assigned.
I believe in wondrous me,

    and most can kiss my fine behind.

---

 

A little slight of hand

A little slight of hand
Is how the game is played,
And how the magic's done,
And how the sleight is made.

A little feigning act
Or two or three or more
Trots on the world's stage
As feign would be the score.

A little falsity
Is justified, one learns,
When waste and fraud must be hid
From the prying eye that yearns
        To tell a truth of lies
        Which strips away the guise,
        Revealing what shanghais
        A world's oft-blinded eyes.

 

Addendum of  Communist China's Sleight of Hand:   "Widespread waste and fraud associated with China’s Belt and Road Initiative has been unearthed after the country’s state railway group was forced to admit this month that a significant amount of cargo containers shuttling between Chinese factories and European cities were empty. The admission by the state-run China Railway – the sole operator of the lines – followed an investigation by the Chinese Business Journal, a newspaper supervised by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, which found that in one extreme case only one of 41 containers on a particular train actually carried goods." In "China’s belt and road cargo to Europe under scrutiny as operator admits to moving empty containers," by Sidney Leng, South China Morning Post, 20 August 2019.   ^{[ 1 ]}

 

Addendum of a Murderer's Sleight of Hand:   "As a 'peace ambassador' for a Los Angeles nonprofit funded with public money, it was Wilfredo Vides' job to steer young people clear of gangs. For those who’d joined one, his role was to convince them to leave, as he had. Vides was one of 22 individuals arrested last month in a federal takedown of MS-13’s Fulton clique, a cell of the transnational gang that claims swaths of the San Fernando Valley as its turf and is accused of murdering and dismembering its enemies in the mountains above Los Angeles....  He showed up at Bible study every Thursday and volunteered at peacemaking soccer matches for members of MS-13, his tattoos betraying his own history with the notorious gang." In "Man Paid to Keep Children Out of Gangs Among Those Charged in Grisly MS-13 Killings in L.A. Area," Los Angeles Times via KTLA News, 20 August 2019.

 

Addendum of a Race Hustler's Sleight of Hand:   "He’s the million-dollar minister. The Rev. Al Sharpton raked in $1,046,948 from his own charity last year, according to National Action Network’s latest tax filings obtained by The Post. Sharpton got a $324,000 salary — 32% higher than his 2017 pay — in addition to a $159,596 bonus and $563,352 in 'other compensation'." In "Al Sharpton gets $1M in pay from his own charity, tax filings show," by Melissa Klein, Georgett Roberts, New York Post, 17 November 2019.  ^{[ 2 ]}

 

NOTE   [ 1 ]     That a one-party controlled command economy might lie is not far-fetched.  One reads in support of this: "The government is accused of perpetuating the existence of 'zombie companies', by granting loss-making companies loans. Banks in turn treat these companies as creditworthy, whereas in reality they should be written off as bad debt, Pettis said. 'If you believe there is bad debt that has not been sufficiently written down, you must believe that China's GDP is overstated, relative to what it would be in any other country. That must be true,' Pettis said. 'If we are able to calculate GDP correctly, it would probably be half of the recorded number'." In "China's GDP growth could be half of reported number, says US economist at prominent Chinese university," by Sidney Leng, South China Morning Post, 10 March 2019.            This is not strange, when one considers the abject favoritism as seen when one tabulates Capital for Communists - a story growing old.   [ 2 ]     Race hustler? Rather a pejorative akin  to the opposite sort of accusation of racism. Who would say such a thing?   An ambulance-chasing, anti-Semitic, anti-white race hustler?               So is it found in the New York Times.  "Mr. Sharpton is an ambulance-chasing, anti-Semitic, anti-white race hustler. His history of offensive statements is longer than the current American president’s. And Mr. Sharpton’s worst sin — his blatant incitement to violence during the Crown Heights riots of 1991 — leaves no doubt that he is not a leader, as New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio described him, who has spent his years 'pushing for justice in the teachings of Dr. King'." In "Why Are Democrats Defending Al Sharpton?" by Glenn C. Loury, New York Times, 31 July 2019.   Seeking Favor? Democrats Cannot Distinguish Hucksterism?             "The arrears have not hurt Sharpton’s standing with fellow Democrats, who still regularly seek his favor." In " Al Sharpton’s 2004 presidential campaign still owes more than $900K," by Jon Levine, NY Post, 15 February 2020. Owing for sixteen years seems like some sort of hustle, does it not?           The NY Post article from 2019, as above notes:  "Sharpton has been paying down millions in his own personal federal and state tax liens. In June, he finally paid off his personal tax debt to the state, which last year stood at $95,031.21. He still owes $698,470.99 in back taxes for three of his companies, according to the state Tax Department."  A life in politics and "charity" seems to have involved much in back taxes owed.           Loury, as above, challenges:  "If Democrats cannot distinguish between Mr. Sharpton’s hucksterism and genuine moral leadership on race and justice in America, I assure you that many moderate voters in battleground states will have no trouble doing so."             Thus one may consider another rhyme with its sourced addenda and footnotes:  Everything's about your colored skin - (or sadly, why these games begin).

---

 

Removing Zeroes

     

 

"Iran's president sent a bill to parliament Wednesday that would cut four zeroes from the value of the Islamic Republic's sanctions-battered currency, the rial, as tensions remain high between Tehran and Washington. By sending the bill to lawmakers, President Hassan Rouhani's government shows it is serious about an idea mulled for some time in Iran, where people discuss monetary transactions in both rials and —informally but more commonly — in tomans. A toman is worth 10 rials. If passed by parliament and approved by lawmakers, Iran's Central Bank would in effect devalue the rial and rename it as toman... name that has not been officially used since the 1930s." In "Iran moves to strike 4 zeroes from its battered currency," by Amir Vahdat, The State (South Carolina) 21 August 2019.

 

Don't remove the zeroes.
Remove the beards instead.
What's the worth of idiocy
When citizens are so bled?
Don't remove the zeroes.
Remove the government.
It's sure the top dogs howl
When booted from their tent.
Don't remove the zeroes.
Remove the foolishness.
There is more than one way
To fix the holy mess.

 

Addendum of a Bandit:   "The unpopular decision to raise gas prices was announced at midnight -- without prior notice -- prompting some to compare the government to bandits. The news led to scattered but growing protests later on November 15, with demonstrations reported in Ahvaz, Mashhad, Shiraz, Borujen, Mahshahr, Gachsaran, Zahedan, Sirjan, Behbahan, Khoramshahr. In Behbahan, some protesters chanted 'gasoline is more expensive, the poor have become poorer'." In "Outrage In Iran Over Hike In Gas Prices As Economic Woes Worsen," by Golnaz Esfandiari, Radio Free Europe, 16 November 2019.   ^{[ 1 ]}

 

Addendum of Blaming Someone Else:    "Iran's leaders put the blame squarely on the American sanctions for the economic strain. 'Today our problems are primarily because of pressure from America and its followers,' Mr. Rouhani said." In "Iran Faces Worst Economic Challenge in 40 Years, President Says," by Thomas Erdbrink, New York Times, 30 January 2019.   ^{[ 2 ]}

 

Addendum of Wheat and Government Regulated Prices:   "...Hojjati acknowledged that the fundamental problem was wheat growers’ rejection of the price offered by the Government — 2.2 million rials (about $18) per 100 kg — turning instead to 'intermediaries'. The Minister said, 'Last year, despite the severe drought, we were able to buy about a million tonnes of wheat more than the year before, but this year in some provinces farmers did not even sell us the equivalent of their irrigated crop'." In "Iran Daily: Tehran Admits Problems with Wheat Production," by Scott Lucas, EA World View, 23 October 2019.   ^{[ 3 ]}

 

Addendum of Clamping Down:   "Clamping down on internet access as a way of trying to contain not just protesters' communication with each other, but also the outside world, is not an unprecedented move; it is part and parcel of how un-democratic regimes control their people and situations. Alarmingly, its use seems to be growing. Pakistan in September cut off internet access in specific regions response to protests over conflicts with India. And Russia -- which has now approved a bill to be able to shut down internet access should it decide to -- is now going to start running a series of drills to ensure its blocks work when they are being used in live responses." In "Iran shuts down country's internet in the wake of fuel protests," Mogaz News/ Yahoo, 17 November 2019.

 

Addendum of Suppressing the Public:   "Iran said on Tuesday that it has mobilised half a million Basijis, a paramilitary force closely affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as eyewitnesses from inside the country spoke of a vicious crackdown against anti-government protesters with close to a hundred people feared dead. Widespread protests have gripped the country since Friday, with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets across the country in defiance of the authorities. Security forces have failed to quell the unrest and a total internet blackout has been imposed to prevent the news of the protests from spreading." In "Iran mobilises half a million paramilitary Basij as IRGC intensifies crackdown," by Fazel Hawramy, Rudaw, 19 November 2019.   ^{[ 4 ]}

 

Addendum of Iranians According to Some Reports:   "By some estimates, 70 percent of Iran’s people have rejected Islam. If following the rules laid out by Muhammad doesn’t work for a country, why would it work for an individual? Why should anyone continue to follow his teachings? Many Iranians have become atheists, rejecting the idea of any god. And thousands have tried to fill the void with drugs, sex or money." In "Ayatollah Khomeini: The greatest Christian missionary in the history of Iran," by Todd Nettleson, Christian Post, 2 January 2020.   ^{[ 5 ]}

 

Addendum of Iranian Lies and Lost Credibility:    "The Association of Iranian Journalists said: 'The publication of false information has had a severe impact on public confidence and public opinion, and more than ever shook the media’s shaky position. The situation has become so complex. We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves; and Islamic Republic of Iran state television employees acknowledge that their credibility has been lost. Unaware that the credibility of this media and most of the domestic media had long since vanished. It should be noted, however, that other media outlets objected to the situation, but the Islamic Republic of Iran’s state television favoured it. This incident showed that people cannot trust official data and journalists should try to fill this gap as much as possible'." In "Journalists quit Iranian state broadcaster over crash cover-up ," by Patrick Wintour, Guardian UK, 13 January 2020.

 

Addendum of Iranian Threats:    "Iran's president warned Wednesday that European soldiers in the Mideast 'could be in danger' after three nations challenged Tehran over breaking the limits of its nuclear deal. Tehran's top diplomat meanwhile acknowledged that Iranians 'were lied to' for days following the Islamic Republic's accidental shootdown of a Ukrainian jetliner that killed 176 people." In "Iran threatens European troops for 1st time as it admits it 'lied' about jet," CBS News/Associated Press, 15 January 2020.

 

Addendum of an Iranian Woman:   " 'I am one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran whom they've been playing for years,' she wrote. 'I wore whatever they told me and repeated whatever they ordered. Every sentence they ordered I repeated. None of us matter for them, we are just tools.' She added that although the government would exploit her sporting success politically, officials would humiliate her with comments such as: 'It is not virtuous for a woman to stretch her legs'." In "Kimia Alizadeh: Iran's only female Olympic medallist defects," BBC, 12 January 2020   ^{[ 6 ]}

 

One might consider the appearance of an Iranian fat cat among those with enormous sums of  Moolah

NOTES   [ 1 ]    The article notes:  "Inflation has soared in the country in recent months and the country’s currency, the rial, has lost some 60 percent of its value since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the international Iranian nuclear deal in May 2018. Additionally, the IMF has predicted that Iran’s economy will shrink by an astronomical 9.5 percent this year. Journalist Mohammad Aghazadeh said the price hike will generate more income for the government while hurting the poor, who are unable to pay higher prices for gas and everyday items."           One might notice a consistent theme across news throughout the world. "More income for the government while hurting the poor" sings its tale in many nations and under many governments.   [ 2 ]   The blame game is old.  While placing blame elsewhere, they "leaders" also absolve themselves:  "Iran’s leaders put the blame squarely on the American sanctions for the economic strain. 'Today our problems are primarily because of pressure from America and its followers,' Mr. Rouhani said. 'And the dutiful government and Islamic system should not be blamed.' Mr. Rouhani did not refer to corruption and mismanagement, two other factors that analysts have cited in Iran’s economic free-fall. He instead said that the 'people's resistance, efforts and sacrifices' would help Iran defeat the United States."           But considering this "people's resistance," one finds an oddity.  "The Iranian general strikes are a series of protests that are taking place across Iran against the economic situation." In "2018–2019 Iranian general strikes and protests," Wikipedia, n d.           That article observes:   "Addressing students in Qom, in early March 2019, Musa Ghazanfarabadi, an Iranian official and head of the Islamic Courts in Tehran, said that if needed they can bring Hashd al-Shaabi militias from Iraq, Houthis from Yemen and others from Pakistan and Afghanistan to suppress the demonstrations."           Indeed, "suppress the demonstrations" using foreign mercenaries, because "the dutiful government and Islamic system should not be blamed. Or else.   [ 3 ]     Connecting these dots, one concludes that a "dutiful government and Islamic system" in Iran tries to generate "more income for the government while hurting the poor," bringing out government price control changes at midnight, speaks of a "people's resistance" while threatening to bring in mercenaries to "suppress the demonstrations" against prices and "dutiful" government corruption and mismanagement, all the while Iranian farmers look to sell harvests at higher prices then the "dutiful government" offers, and all of this, including an "economic freefall" is an American government which the "Islamic system" in Iran declares it will "defeat."           Those we seek to destroy are not helping us? Such is the stance of a government which will "cut four zeroes from the value of the Islamic Republic's sanctions-battered currency" because they are "dutiful."            The Iranian leadership's duty is to Moolah .  Ordinary Iranians? The poor? Not so much.  Surprised?   [ 4 ]    The notion of suppression should come as no surprise to one who observes the world.  From years ago, one learned, " A month ago, the Iranian parliament voted in favour of a draft bill, entitled 'Islamic Penal Code', which would codify the death penalty for any male Iranian who leaves his Islamic faith. Women would get life imprisonment. The majority in favour of the new law was overwhelming: 196 votes for, with just seven against. Imposing the death penalty for changing religion blatantly violates one of the most fundamental of all human rights. The right to freedom of religion is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and in the European Convention of Human Rights. It is even enshrined as Article 23 of Iran's own constitution, which states that no one may be molested simply for his beliefs." In "Hanged for being a Christian in Iran," Telegraph UK, 11 October 2008.           " The situation for Christians of any denomination in Iran is 'very dramatic,' according to Markus Rode from Open Doors. In particular, individuals who have converted from Islam to Christianity are subjected to 'extreme persecution.' Many have been imprisoned, tortured, or threatened with death. Armenian and Chaldean churches are allowed to hold services, as long as they are not conducted in Persian, and they are observed by the police. Distributing Christian literature in Farsi is strictly forbidden, in order to prevent evangelization. 'The traditional churches are being strangled,' Rode told DW. 'Those involved have no other choice but to go underground'." In "What it's like to be a Christian in Iran," by Stefan Dege, Deutsche Welle, 25 January 2016.           One may be clear about this, as Islam is identified - a litany for April 2019.  Islam is being identified by itself and its own thoughts, words and deeds.   [ 5 ] The article notes an oddity about the Shia "supreme" leader: "The Supreme Leader says he gets instructions directly from Allah. But after 40 years, Iranians can see very clearly that the government Khomeini established doesn't work. So it’s no great leap for Iranians to move from 'Islamic government doesn’t work' to a correlated truth: Islam doesn't work."           From a Western point-of-view and based on readings from the Koran and Hadiths, an assertion that some "supreme" leader speaks directly to God can been seen as quite un-Islamic, certainly in the majority Sunni tradition, given that even Mohammed did not get messages "directly from Allah."  If a population is being repulsed by this Iranian version of "Islamic government," a coming revolution may be foreseen.           After all, a revolution which revolves only once is no revolution. Revolution revolves but once - lèse majesté remains among its stunts.   [ 6 ]    She said, "I wore whatever they told me and repeated whatever they ordered."  In spite of the Islamic apologists and their "lies" to which this Iranian woman testifies, while some Western Trendy Wendy covers up .

 

---

 

As to a peaceful Sunday

"For decades, Placido Domingo, one of the most celebrated and powerful men in opera, has tried to pressure women into sexual relationships by dangling jobs and then sometimes punishing the women professionally when they refused his advances, numerous accusers told The Associated Press." In "Multiple women say opera star Domingo sexually harassed them," by Jocelyn Gecker, Associated Press, 13 August 2019.

 

As to a peaceful Sunday,
That morning star now fades;
In the glare of sunlight,
Hard truth hard serenades.
                    Of a peaceful Sunday,
                    Immense respect dilutes,
                    As a predatory tale
                    Immense respect refutes.
Great was a peaceful Sunday
Until the time had come
To sing the sordid stories
Of a poorly-conducted bum.

 

Addendum of a Slipped Disc:    "So where is the informed and balanced view? Let’s face some facts. Domingo is no hero. He has been pestering women for years. He has been vain, greedy and tiresome since his tenor voice faded. He keeps demanding baritone roles, while also conducting and directing operas for which he has no exceptional talent. In doing so he denies opportunities to others and clogs the channels of career development. He held on far too long at Washington National Opera and still clings to power at LA Opera. He has promoted members of his family. He mingles with corrupt sports officials and political dictators. He’s 78. Hanging on does not improve his image for posterity. It’s time for him to go with grace." In "Why no US writer speaks out for Domingo…" by Norman Lebrecht, Slipped Disc, 29 August 2019.

 

Addendum from a Labor Union:   "On September 6, 2019, AGMA announced that the union was opening an independent investigation into allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination made by AGMA members against Placido Domingo and into any systemic failures within the opera industry which may have allowed the alleged conduct to continue for decades. Today, AGMA learned that Mr. Domingo has resigned as General Director of the Los Angeles Opera. AGMA's independent investigation will continue despite Mr. Domingo's resignation." In "Placido Domingo Investigation Update," email from AGMAInfo@musicalartists.org, 3 October 2019.

 

Addendum of Indentifying the Harassing Latin Lover Prototype:   "He clearly belongs to the 'Latin Lover' prototype, a good-natured, charming seducer from the old Hollywood era. Learning to deal with such types used to be part of a woman’s skill set. The instigator of a sexual advance does not know beforehand whether it will be wanted or not; he (or she) is taking a chance. It is up to the target of that advance to signal how it has been received. If the would-be seducer does not back off, the seducee needs to escalate to whatever level of explicitness is required, however uncomfortable it may be to elevate what is unspoken and ambiguous into the realm of language and clarity. Rebuffing an advance from a superior is particularly difficult. But, as noted, Domingo appears to have dropped his petitions when told to do so and did not exert quid pro quo pressure. If all else fails, avoidance is the fallback strategy: turning one’s head to avoid a kiss, or staying far enough away to avoid charged interaction. An unwanted advance is not sexual assault, despite the fashionable conflation of the two. If persistent enough, such advances feel and may become harassing." In "The Defenestration of Domingo," by Heather Mac Donald, Quillette, 18 October 2019.

 

Addendum of Promiscuity Perhaps:   "Domingo did not respond to detailed questions from the AP about specific incidents. But he issued a statement calling the allegations 'deeply troubling, and as presented, inaccurate,' adding 'I believed that all of my interactions and relationships were always welcomed and consensual'." In "L.A. Opera Declines to Release Details on Placido Domingo Investigation," Billboard/Associated Press, 18 August 2019.

 

Addendum of AGMA's  Investigation:   "On February 24, AGMA convened a special, strictly confidential meeting of the Board of Governors. At the meeting, the investigator presented the findings of the investigative report, and your President and NED presented the terms of the tentative agreement. The terms included: 1) a substantial fine; 2) a lengthy suspension; 3) mandatory training/coaching by someone selected by AGMA; and 4) a public apology along with a public release summarizing the conclusions of the report, both of which had to be approved by AGMA. The anticipated fine of $500,000, to our knowledge one of the largest to be imposed on a union member, was earmarked to support the Union’s ongoing efforts and new initiatives to prevent sexual harassment in our industries and to offset AGMA’s legal fees incurred in the investigation (approximately $130,000 to date). " In "Explanation of Domingo Investigation," American Guild of Musical Artists, 26 February 2020.

 

Addendum Most Operatic:     "Delle vecchie fa conquista pel piacer di porle in lista; sua passion predominante è la giovin principiante." In "Madamina, il catalogo è questo," text of Lorenzo Da Ponte (1749-1838).  trans. "He seduces the old ones for the pleasure of adding to the list; his greatest favourite is the young beginner."

 

---

 

Choose violent upheaval? - from Stalin, a retrieval

"Here there stands out in bold relief the tremendous role of new social ideas, of new political institutions, of a new political power, whose mission it is to abolish by force the old relations of production. Out of the conflict between the new productive forces and the old relations of production, out of the new economic demands of society, there arise new social ideas; the new ideas organize and mobilize the masses; the masses become welded into a new political army, create a new revolutionary power, and make use of it to abolish by force the old system of relations of production, and to firmly establish the new system. The spontaneous process of development yields place to the conscious actions of men, peaceful development to violent upheaval, evolution to revolution." In "Dialectical and Historical Materialism," J. V. Stalin, 1938.

 

Choose violent upheaval?
It's worked so well before.
With but a bit of history,
One sees what's then in store.

Choose violent upheaval,
A murderous thug advised.
As millions went to slaughter,
Revolution realized.

Choose violent upheaval,
By any means you wish.
Peacefulness rejected,
In barrel shoot your fish.

Choose violent upheaval,
Thugs have always said.
It seems it's served them well
When an opposition's dead.

 

One might review the rhyme, addenda and footnotes for this most progressive stance:  Scratch a Leftist -- to the tune of "Plant a Radish," from the Fantasticks

 

---

 

Versus

You mustn't oppose nor undermine.
But you must toe our line.
You must think the way we think,
Not other thoughts opine.

You'll conclude what we conclude,
Or else you will be viewed
A pariah, in the midst of us,
Who must be well subdued.

You shan't go a different way
Than that which we so say,
And if you go without our lead
You must be judged astray.

Saddles and bits and righteous reins.
Collars and cuffs and clever chains.
By any means necessary to assure
The wellness of our well-fought gains.

You shan't hold a different view.
Or think things too askew.
Such is our great guidance
Applied to little you.

 

---

 

How it's pictured, how it's seen - images and what we mean

"Political liberty is good only so far as it produces private liberty."  Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-1984)

 

A failing model for today's political thought and action   ^{[ 1 ]}

How it's pictured, how it's seen,
    Structures which might contravene,
        How we see and understand
What we say and what we mean.

How it's painted, how it's viewed
    May upend what once was skewed.
        How we speak and what we say
Overthrows with clarity crude.

Simply, thoughts are simplified,
        Serving to capture the verified.
    Models, which were failing, false,
Wither, when reclassified.

How we picture, how we see
    Supports our thinking visually.
        Revolutions, when they freely revolve,
Link totalitarians truthfully.

 

Addendum of Another Re-visualization:   "...to visually express this argument, Nolan came up with a two-axis graph. One axis was for economic freedom and the other was for personal freedom, with the scale on each of the two axes ranging from zero (total state control) to 100% (no state control). 100% freedom in economics would mean an entirely free market (laissez-faire); 100% freedom in personal issues would mean no government control of private, personal life. By using the scale on each of the two axes, it was possible to graph the intersection of the amount of personal liberty and economic liberty a person, political organization, or political philosophy advocates. Therefore, instead of classifying all political opinion on a one-dimensional range from left to right, Nolan's chart allowed two-dimensional measurement: how much (or little) government control a person favored in personal and economic matters." In Nolan Chart," Wikipedia, n. d.   ^{[ 2 ]}

 

Addendum of Being Too Simplistic:   "Political scientists have frequently noted that a single left–right axis is too simplistic and insufficient for describing the existing variation in political beliefs and included other axes. Though the descriptive words at polar opposites may vary, the axes of popular biaxial spectra are usually split between economic issues (on a left–right dimension) and socio-cultural issues (on a authority–liberty dimension)." In "Political Spectrum," Wikipedia, n. d.   ^{[ 3 ]}

 

Addendum of Too Simplistic Socialism:   "Socialist planned economies — the common ownership of the means of production — interfere with price and other market signals in a million ways. They suppress or eliminate profit motives that drive people to learn and improve. It doesn’t matter how big your computers are, the socialist can never gather all relevant data, can never construct the right feedback loops. The state cannot even see the local, irregular, context-driven factors that can have exponential effects. The state cannot predict people’s desires, which sometimes change on a whim. Capitalism creates a relentless learning system. Socialism doesn’t." In "I Was Once a Socialist. Then I Saw How It Worked," by David Brooks, New York Times, 5 December 5, 2019.   ^{[ 4 ]}

 

Addendum of the Catholic Religion of State Communism:   "In late September, local officials ordered the congregation to paint over the sign with the name of the church, replace it with 'Follow the Party, Obey the Party, and Be Grateful to the Party,' and display the national flag at the entrance. What has hurt the congregations the most was the removal of a painting of the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child, later discarded into a dark corner of the church. Instead, a portrait of president Xi Jinping was hung in the center of one of the walls, surrounded by propaganda slogans on both sides." In "Xi Jinping Portraits Replace Catholic Symbols in Churches," by Tang Zhe, Bitter Winter, 25 November 2019.

 

Consider the commands of any form of  So shall ism

 

NOTES   [ 1 ]    The so-called left-right model, an image intended to somehow capture political stances on a single spectrum, fails as time and history's lessons accumulate. Were one to cluster authoritarian political stances on one side of a political spectrum -- like to like in terms of control and murderousness -- the above model must be amended.   Left versus Right             In amending the picture to place command-and-control governmental stances together, one finds one's self resorting to references to a political Left which demonstrates authoritarianism alongside economic collapse. One such use of the term, Left, may be reviewed through the rhyme, addenda and footnotes:  Left to their own devices .           In this cavalcade of sourced material about Venezuelans' experience with that revolution which failed to continue to revolve, the term Left defined by the New York Times' coverage links Left, as a term, to Socialism, as well as to the miseries for many Venezuelans in this era.   'Far' - Sometimes Far From Being Accurate             Yet, for many Right -- and therefore the heightened pejorative of "far-right' -- makes the association of National Socialism and Italian Fascism seem some kind of polar opposite to the Left. For those for whom "Right" means that authoritarian governance as recorded in the history of Nazi Germany and Mussolini's Italy, the "Left" seems an adequate response. For those, a modified picture is suggested , quite like the one directly above, and merely exchanging the words, Left and Right.   Inverted Right versus Left as Terms             This allows authoritarian forms of government to still cluster together, the millions killed in Maoist China's Great Leap Forward, to the massive starvation of the Holomodor and gulags of Soviet Socialism, to the murderous concentration camps of National Socialism. Yet, as simple words can be beloved of those who feel emotionally bound to them, one can reverse the imagery yet again, still retaining the clustering of authoritarian political regimes.   Left versus Right as Terms revisited             This restructuring of the imagery is easily justified, when pondering what the Totalitarian teaches, by rhyme, sourced addenda and footnotes.           Such lessons are also to be seen in the rhyme, sourced addenda and footnotes to Scratch a Leftist   - to the tune of "Plant a Radish," from the Fantasticks.  Using a different image, the rhyme could have been titled Scratch a Right-ist. Words can fail, when sometimes images function with simple clarity.                 In this era, I use the term "Left" as has the New York Times in its editorial stance as regards the ongoing tragedy in Venezuela. Invert the terminology, and the reality does not change. "Left" no longer means "liberal."           What remains for those who aspire to greater freedom is little except to exhort for such freedom for all. But what remains for the avid modern Socialist, National Socialist, Fascist and Communist is to explain their willingness to restrain freedom in favor of some greater common "good."  For such "good," hundreds of millions have been murdered by the "good" guys....   Antecedents and Definitions             As Lenin has linked Socialism to Communism, therein one finds the stance of an abolition of private property rights, while the National Socialists and Italian Fascists seemed to have held for private property rights for some, but not of course for all, as they confiscated property of Jews and others. For the chance to rule over a nation -- or nations -- National Socialists and German Communists cooperated for a time, and then fought in the onslaught of WWII, and it was a loss of one authoritarian to another, justifying for some placing their violent opposition into the now failing Right-Left model.   Beloved Words fail             In contradistinction to these above, the side -- call it Left or Right, for the words fail -- which espouses greater freedom does so by assuring private property rights for all. And that political stance which demands lock-step political compliance from its members tramples on greater freedom for the many.           Different models are suggested.  More free versus more enslaved.  More peaceable versus more militant.  Small versus large.  National versus international.  Local versus global. Yet Hitler's "national" was not local, invading neighboring nations with withering "international" attacks, and forming international alliances with such as the Vichy government in France and the Anschluss in Austria. One would correctly label this an inter-national enterprise.   [ 2 ]    Dissatisfaction with imagery to capture political distinctions is found as the years pass. Unlike the bifurcation of the Nolan chart, the purpose of reconstituting the Right-Left model is, in part, to show its fallacies, by which and with which authoritarians hope to confuse with the singular aim -- to rule.           Oddly, power corrupts, as has been observed. And so, with Venezuela in the modern day, one finds one-party government providing the world with such oddities as Capital for Communists - a story growing old. But as with all ideologues who have yet to attain power and command, they plan to do it "the right way."   [ 3 ]     While various forms of political theorizing and critique speak of speak of some views being too "simplistic," one may well point out the death statistics, as above, of those forms of government -- variations, according to the comment -- which murder their own in the millions should "simplistically" be grouped together, if only as criminal. As murderous. As elitist and ultimately betrayals of high-sounding rhetoric.   Simply Criminal and Simply Corrupt             An example in this era, one reads of simple criminality in the so-called, high-sounding Bolivarian revolution. One reads:   "...documents shine a light on longstanding accusations that Venezuela's government is at least in part funded by the drug trade, and that it has attempted to weaponize the drug trade against the United States. According to the affidavit, a deal dividing drug profits and providing weapons to FARC was discussed in the negotiations with Colombia's leftist guerrillas. One FARC leader, Luciano Marín, is prominently featured in the documents as talking directly with Chávez at a ranch in 2008 to discuss arms shipments for the guerrillas and payments through PDVSA, the Venezuelan state-owned oil company." In "Venezuela's Chavez worked with Marxist guerrillas to inundate US with cocaine," by Rafael Bernal, The Hill, 16 September 2019.           There is little question that the current government of Venezuela is corrupt alongside being incompetent to fulfill the simple needs of its people. A collapsed state, it fails. Is this too "simplistic" to observe?           Consider the plain, simple observation, when Left to their own devices , those who wield power, do so in an often violent manner, abusive and controlling, and in the process skim off wealth for themselves.  This simple observation so easily explains Capital for Communists   as it does True socialism, oh yes, he said .           Simple stated, these all -- right and left, if one continues to play with the failed model -- have been enormously corrupt and murderous.   [ 4 ]    Brooks tells of himself:   "My socialist sympathies didn’t survive long once I became a journalist. I quickly noticed that the government officials I was covering were not capable of planning the society they hoped to create. It wasn’t because they were bad or stupid. The world is just too complicated."           Politicians bad or stupid?  Some might conclude politicians can be both bad and stupid. One only need consider political Corruption , documented aplenty, and Corruption continuing as proof so many can be both bad and stupid.   The Motivation to Learn and Innovate? The Freedom for Individuals to Profit.             Of Brooks conversion away from socialist sympathies, he notes: "I came to realize that capitalism is really good at doing the one thing socialism is really bad at: creating a learning process to help people figure stuff out. If you want to run a rental car company, capitalism has a whole bevy of market and price signals and feedback loops that tell you what kind of cars people want to rent, where to put your locations, how many cars to order. It has a competitive profit-driven process to motivate you to learn and innovate, every single day."           As one surveys the many seemingly different themes of Leftist politics, one feature of the Left's economic theory is that Free is running out of cash .  The answers are there, but require one to give up allegiance to a ruling class' ruling ideology. That "command" economy by those who would "plan" whole nations' manufacturing, buying and selling must always retreat to at least the threat of violence, if not outright violence, against a citizenry which will not obey central planners' "command" and "control."

 

---

 

Gendered chess - each stale mate nevertheless

Can but can't?
Shall? Nope, shan't?
Hearken to
The complex cant.

Stewing mess --
Gendered chess.
Who'd confess
More or less?

 

Patriarch?

Matriarch?

Whence the spark,

Hierarch?

 

Gendered chess

Is checkered,

And written

All around.

 

It's a blow,

Don't you know?

Some will go.

Others? Whoa.

Will, but won't?
Do or don't?
Time will tell
Which will wont.

 

Addendum of Stewing in a Mess:   "While men stew in their mess, women are rising. They are taking back control of their lives and their bodies and they are questioning the foundation of the patriarchy — heterosexuality — that has kept them blindly subordinate for centuries. 'A feminist critique of compulsory heterosexual orientation for women is long overdue,' Adrienne Rich wrote in her 1980 feminist classic 'Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence.' It looks like this critique has finally arrived in the mainstream." In "Miley Cyrus' split with Liam Hemsworth isn't just celebrity gossip — it's a blow to the patriarchy," by Marcie Bianco,, NBC News, 16 August 2019.   ^{[ 1 ]}

 

Addendum of Unwillingness:   "This unwillingness to settle for less than we think we deserve is joined by a lax attitude towards searching for potential mates. We’re busy dominating the world. We don’t have time to hang out at bars. While some of us explore online dating or take a more proactive approach, the majority of Millennial women have long assumed we would meet Prince Charming via friends, or through their own social circles. 'Why should we waste our precious time and energy unless we meet someone we really connect with and care about?' asks Baker. 'I think it's great that Millennial women are picky and don't feel as much pressure to be in monogamous relationships as did previous generations. I do think all Millennials, not just women, are used to the idea of being able to ‘curate’ experiences -- that's why so many people are into online dating, because you can pick and choose character traits -- and that makes people wary about settling down, especially when, in a city like New York, there are so many options'." Unfortunately these assumptions bump up against the growing inequality between the two genders. Millennial women have taken it for granted that they will pair up with equal partners. But increasingly, there aren’t enough of these men to go around." In "Why Are So Many Professional Millennial Women Unable To Find Dateable Men?" by Larissa Faw, Forbes, 5 December 2012.    ^{[ 2 ]}

 

Addendum of the Requirement:   Sexual reproduction typically requires the sexual interaction of two specialized organisms, called gametes, which contain half the number of chromosomes of normal cells and are created by meiosis, with typically a male fertilizing a female of the same species to create a fertilized zygote. This produces offspring organisms whose genetic characteristics are derived from those of the two parental organisms. In "Reproduction," Wikipedia, n. d.   ^{[ 3 ]}

 

Addendum of a Toxic Obsession:   "Our culture is so wrapped up in trying to blur the lines of sexuality, and women have become so obsessed with their warped concept of feminism, we seem dead-set on confusing, even hating, men for their masculinity. Equality doesn’t mean sameness. Yes, society should strive for equality between men and women, but no phrase, whether 'cisgender,' 'toxic masculinity,' or 'gender binary attack helicopter,' will ever change that men and women are not the same. Nor should it mean men shouldn’t be as proud to be masculine as women can to be feminine. Camille Paglia once said, 'Men have sacrificed and crippled themselves physically and emotionally to feed, house, and protect women and children. None of their pain or achievement is registered in feminist rhetoric, which portrays men as oppressive and callous exploiters'." "In "The ‘Toxic Masculinity’ Trend Blames Boys For Being Born Male," by Nicole Russell, Federalist,12 April 2017.   ^{[ 4 ]}

 

Addendum of Miss Matches:    "Racial and ethnic minorities, especially Black women, face serious shortages of potential marital partners, as do low socioeconomic status and high socioeconomic status unmarried women, both at the national and subnational levels. This study reveals large deficits in the supply of potential male spouses. One implication is that the unmarried may remain unmarried or marry less well-suited partners." In "Mismatches in the Marriage Market," by Daniel T. Lichter, Joseph P. Price and Jeffrey M. Swigert, Journal of Marriage and Family, 4 September 2019.    ^{[ 5 ]}

 

Addendum of Fragile, Vulnerable Men:    "...women know men to be vulnerable and fragile, they are often tempted to excuse them as 'just little boys' who need to over-compensate for their sense of inadequacy or 'womb-envy' with acts of spiteful misogyny. Female nurturing is presented as the solution to male violence - as though women haven't been doing that for centuries. Germaine Greer once commented that 'women have very little idea of how much men hate them'. For it is painful to confront the extent of men's hatred. But only when both men and women acknowledge its existence, its extent and its pervasiveness, can we act to end it." In "Why Men Hate Women," by Celia Kitzinger, New Internationalist, 5 October 1990.

 

Addendum of a Woman Without an Anchor:   "The sex columnist, whose body of work amounts to a narrative companion to the sexual escapades of upwardly mobile urbanites, recently expressed her regrets over never having had children. 'When I got divorced and I was in my 50s, I started to see the impact of not having children and of truly being alone. I do see that people with children have an anchor in a way that people who have no kids don’t,' Bushnell told the Sunday Times Magazine. You have to pity her, partly because she’s right about the 'anchor' that children provide, and partly because there is no consolation one can offer beyond some derivative of 'I told you so.' But we did tell her so. We told her that men and women are different — neither better than the other, but different nonetheless. We told her that children are a blessing, not a burden. She didn’t care." In "Candace Bushnell’s Childless Misery," by John Hirschauer, Yahoo/National Review, 31 July 2019.   ^{[ 6 ]}

 

Addendum of Decline and Sterility:    "Intelligence and sterility are allied in old families, old peoples, and old Cultures, not merely because in each microcosm the overstrained and fettered animal-element is eating up the plant element, but also because the waking-consciousness assumes that being is normally regulated by causality. That which the man of intelligence, most significantly and characteristically, labels as 'natural impulse' or 'life-force,' he not only knows, but also values, causally, giving it the place amongst his other needs that his judgment assigns to it. When the ordinary thought of a highly cultivated people begins to regard 'having children' as a question of pro's and con's, the great turning-point has come. For Nature knows nothing of pro and con. Everywhere, wherever life is actual, reigns an inward organic logic, an 'it,' a drive, that is utterly independent of waking-being, with its causal linkages, and indeed not even observed by it. The abundant proliferation of primitive peoples is a natural phenomenon, which is not even thought about, still less judged as to its utility or the reverse. When reasons have to be put forward at all in a question of life, life itself has become questionable." In "The Decline of the West, Form and Actuality," Chapter IV(A), "The Soul of the City," Oswald Spengler, Knopf, 1926. p. 104.
 

Consider Some Women's Part in a  Sexy acrostic   -  just to turn a trick

 

NOTES   [ 1 ]     Marcie Bianco describes herself as "Writer, editor, cultural critic, and your favorite lesbian feminist." Her bio tells "an undergraduate degree in Government from Harvard (cum laude); a MSt in Women's Studies from the University of Oxford (Hertford College); and a MA and a PhD in English Literature from Rutgers University."           One notes that the educational stance from which she writes is out of "government," "women's studies," and English literature. Her tale is one of many. One might assume, as a lesbian "dominating the world" in Faw's parlance, she is not seeking "Prince Charming." Hurray for the matriarchy, and one writer's perspective.   Consider Empowering feminism - a parody on "I Am Woman" (first released 1971) by Helen Reddy and singer-songwriter Ray Burton.   [ 2 ]    Larissa Faw states "As a full-time journalist with a business background, I write about millennial workplace trends, corporate renegades and pop culture." Elsewhere one reads, "Larissa Faw is a business journalist who contributes to Forbes and Mediapost, and writes a syndicated business column running in U.S. newspapers. She writes about Millennials, workplace trends and career mavericks...."   Critique Heterosexuality, But Wonder Where the Eligible Men Are?             In Bianco's parlance, "questioning the foundation of the patriarchy - heterosexuality" might be contributing to Faw's stance, noting the problem for heterosexual women that "there aren’t enough of these men to go around." Another's writer's perspective, this one's captured in the phrase, "there aren’t enough of these men to go around". So, hurray for the matriarchy?   Consider Chased Away   [ 3 ]    "Will, but won't? / Do or don't? / Time will tell / Which will wont."            Should "your favorite lesbian feminist" seek to reproduce, she will seek "half the number of chromosomes of normal cells" via the male in order to complete "a fertilized zygote."  There is nothing about government, women's studies which rejects objective observations of basic biology, or English literature which can inform.           Should a business journalist seek to reproduce, she too will seek "half the number of chromosomes of normal cells" via the male in order to complete "a fertilized zygote."  "Millennial workplace trends, corporate renegades and pop culture" will not contribute to this in the least.   Taking What For Granted?             Both writers are products of sexual reproduction via "a male fertilizing a female of the same species to create a fertilized zygote."  Shall one think that this testifies to oppression by a patriarchy, that "foundation" of which is heterosexuality?   But "Millennial women have taken it for granted that they will pair up with equal partners. But increasingly, there aren’t enough of these men to go around."  Biologically there are enough zygotes to go around, call them potential patriarchs or matriarchs. The biology is understandable in spite of complaints thereto.                     The postmodern polarization of sex into gender, gender into many genders, and heated argumentation leads us nicely to competing narratives and the fine expression, Fa Queue - there's no debating you.   [ 4 ]     Nicole Russell is a Washington, D.C.-based writer and mother of four. Her work has appeared be in The Atlantic, Politico, The New York Times, Parents, The American Spectator, National Review Online, and she is a Senior Contributor to The Federalist and The Washington Examiner.           Nicole Russell has written, "we seem dead-set on confusing, even hating, men for their masculinity," and Larissa Faw has bemoaned the dearth of men who can be equal partners to women, with "there aren’t enough of these men to go around." Marcie Bianco questioned heterosexuality altogether, as the "foundation of the patriarchy," while Camille Pagila bemoaned feminists portraying men as "men as oppressive and callous exploiters."           Lots of gametes represented there, each having been at one time a fertilized zygote, each evidencing "genetic characteristics [that] are derived from those of the two parental organisms," a female and a male of the same species.   [ 5 ]   Unmarried Miss Matches sometimes worries in the media about "deficits in the supply of potential male spouses.  Are "potential male spouses" necessary in this postmodern world?   Dunn's Spoof -- A Woman Needs a Man Like a Fish Needs a Bicycle             One recalls:   "Gloria Steinem had this to say in a letter she wrote to Time magazine in autumn 2000: 'In your note on my new and happy marital partnership with David Bale, you credit me with the witticism 'A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.' In fact, Irina Dunn, a distinguished Australian educator, journalist and politician, coined the phrase back in 1970 when she was a student at the University of Sydney. She paraphrased the philosopher who said, 'Man needs God like fish needs a bicycle.' Dunn deserves credit for creating such a popular and durable spoof of the old idea that women need men more than vice versa'."   The Stale Mate             A spoof, popular and durable? Indeed, and with its effects on demographics and generational change. And so the intersectional synthesis between Bianco, Faw, Russell, and Paglia synthesizes nothing in particular except words and words and words, pulling in differing directions.           Gendered chess seems to be coming to a stalemate. And the stale mate. "Time will tell...."   [ 6 ]     About what does anyone care? What is the end reality of a life choice? The responses to such questions is regularly revealing.  One reads further:  " 'After a certain age, women really feel invisible. And after the age of 50, it's almost like you don't exist and there is a lot of pressure on women to stay young,' she explained. " In "Life After Mr Big: Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell, 60, says there's a lot more dating to be had after finding your 'happily ever after'," by Mark Brook, Daily Mail Australia, 7 August 2019.           A lot more....

 

Say hello to Societal Norm - a formless form

 

---

 

Follow; chant in uni, son

Stay Woke Shuts Down Feminist Lecture

Follow; chant in uni, son.
    Lock step, that's the way its done.
        Shut it down; declare you've won.
            That's the way the problem's spun.

 

Addendum of the Problem:   "...that’s the problem, isn’t it? A noisy minority of campus activists who can’t seem to handle opposing viewpoints are breeding an unintellectual, mob-like environment where students must choose sides or face nasty social repercussions. I experienced this when I went to the College of William & Mary––writing libertarian op-eds got me threats, people refused to speak to me, people called me 'evil,' 'bitch,' 'racist,' and, yes, 'sexist' online. If you’re not on the side of the prevailing social justice narrative, you might as well leave campus altogether or have a miserable time of it. Might as well hunker down in your dorm room and wait for it to all be over." In "Mob-like law students call Christina Hoff Sommers a fascist, shout her down," by Liz Wolfe, Washington Examiner, 6 March 2018.

 

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Dump your trash in the street - a little tale, greenly sweet

"New Yorkers uploaded images to social media sites showing piles of trash - included ditched paper and cardboard signs - left behind after thousands took part in the People's Climate March.' Their love for the Earth is so real, they couldn't even use a trash can,' one critic, known as @chelsea_elisa on Twitter, wrote beneath an image of an overflowing trash can." In "So much for clearing up the planet! Climate change protesters who marched through Manhattan are branded hypocrites for leaving litter strewn across the city," by Staff, Mail Online, 22 September 2019.

 

Dump your trash in the street
And then just drift away.
Marches to protect the earth
Litter along their way.

Show your action on a sign,
Then toss it in the bin
For someone else to take away,
To prove your action thin.

Dump your trash on the street
And then just stroll away.
You've told the world tangibly
That you were here today.

Actions speak a tactile truth
When words are found to lie
In heaps of discarded trash
For all the world to spy.

    Litter, airy, blithe and brief,
    Tells this tale of green belief.

 

         

 

Addendum of Arrogance Littered with Trash:   " 'It is phenomenally arrogant to think that 14 years into this century that we already know the greatest crisis we will face,' Kreutzer said." In "Climate change skeptics call out marchers' 'hypocrisies’,' by Sophia Rosenbaum, New York Post, 22 September 2019.

 

One might consider the other realities of  Bankrupt green

 

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Equality for all - darkness will fall

"...it is better that some should be unhappy, than that none should be happy, which would be the case in a general state of equality."  Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-1984)

Equality? Yes! Hip-hip-hooray-
 No popes nor presidents this very day.
  No sheikhs! Nor mandarins! Not they!
   And no prime ministers! Yes! Oh yeah!
    No chairmen nor senators straightaway.
     No spokesmen's chatter. No UN to nay...
      And, none of such to overpay.
       No celebrities? Let's cheer: Okay!
        Fancy folks shall be washed away.
         Equality? Royalty? Why delay?
          Oligarchs? Gone. That's the way.
           No unhappiness, come what may?
            Equality's ave atque vale.

 

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Communism's capitalism, don't you see? - seventy years. wrenchingly

"China went through wrenching social changes as it veered from a planned economy to a failed experiment with radical collectivization to today’s free-wheeling, often messy mix of bare-knuckled competition and crony capitalism, all supervised by the Communist Party." In "Timeline: Seven decades of Communist China," by Ben Blanchard, One America News, 25 September 2019.

Communism's capitalism, don't you see?
    The writer trips up fantastically.
Collectivism failed but, radically,
    The idea lingers ideologically.
Unplanned is a supervised economy?
    A mix of bare knuckles, apparently.
As words collapse, one word goes free;
    Still missing is freedom, paradoxically.

The media's and ideologues' wordy spree

    Is literally failing illiberally.

 

As antidote to such wordy confusion, consider the rhyme and stance:  How it's pictured, how it's seen - images and what we mean

 

Addendum of One-Party Run Mercantilism:   "Two decades after its accession to the World Trade Organization, China still uses its intertwined public and private sectors to serve the Communist Party’s mercantilist goals. Many Chinese businesses are listed on U.S. stock exchanges, but Beijing’s intransigence ensures that American investors often don’t get a true picture of those companies’ financial health. In December 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board issued a joint warning to investors about the challenges American regulators face when attempting to conduct oversight of U.S.-listed companies based in China and Hong Kong. While the PCAOB regularly inspects audits of U.S.-listed firms, Beijing consistently challenges their efforts. Chinese law requires that financial records remain in China, and Beijing restricts access to accounting information, citing national security and state secrecy." In "You Can’t Trust a Chinese Audit," by Marco Rubio, Wall Street Journal, 4 June 2019.

 

Addendum of Being Exempt from Meaningful Oversight:   "...unlike companies from the U.S. and Europe and everywhere else in the world, Chinese companies that list on the U.S. stock exchanges are exempt from meaningful financial oversight. This is a longstanding scandal that is finally coming to a head. On June 5, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced the Ensuring Quality Information and Transparency for Abroad-Based Listings on our Exchanges (EQUITABLE) Act. U.S. Representatives Mike Conaway (R-TX), Tim Ryan." In "China and the U.S. Stock Market: Nowhere to go," by Steve Dickinson, China Law Blog, 16 June 2019.

 

Addendum after Seventy Years:   " 'China is huge in size, has complex national conditions, and its governance difficulties are rarely seen. Without a unified and strong leadership force, China will move toward division and crumble, bringing disaster to the world,' it said. Chinese authorities have long justified a firm fist in dealing with problems, like the crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Beijing in 1989, as being necessary for national stability." In "China needs strong leadership or will ‘crumble,’ policy paper says," by Ben Blanchard and Gao Liangping, Reuters, 27 September 2019.    ^{[ 1 ]}

 

Addendum of the Two Classless Classes:   "The supposed 'classless' communist society did have two classes, the proletariat who called each other 'comrades in chains' and the ruling elites. The controlling elites shared and used all the wealth as they pleased, according to their greedy wants. Marxism has not worked and will never work because greed and jealousy are part of the human psyche. Not everyone is so altruistic that they are willing to work extremely hard for the good of everyone, knowing that those in power get their lion’s share of the divided pie."    In "Society Never Condemned the Crimes of Communism in a Public Forum," by Ileana Johnson Paugh, Canada Free Press, 28 September 2019. ^{[ 2 ]}

 

Addendum of a Chinese Mayor:   "Police in China searched house of a former mayor of Danzhou and found 268 billion yuan (37,573,600,000 USD) amount of cash as well as 13.5 tons of gold in secret basement of his home." In "13.5 Tons Of Gold Found In Chinese Ex Mayors Basement," MENAFN - Arab Times, 26 September 2019.

 

Addendum of the Embodiment:   "...socialism, not capitalism, is the embodiment of cronyism. Socialism is cronyism on steroids. Those at the top receive special benefits, privileges and high incomes, while everyone else fights for a small remainder. Because there is little incentive to put in a healthy day’s work under socialism, there aren’t enough goods and services to go around. The country of Venezuela is a classic example of this. Its leaders live surrounded by vast wealth while the rest of the country stands in bread lines. Capitalism is a threat to the hegemony of their elites." In "Move Over, Communist Manifesto, The Capitalist Manifesto is Here." by Rachel Alexander, Townhall, 8 January 2020.

 

For worries about crumbling, it remains necessary to Put the past to rest - ignore the dead oppressed

 

NOTE   [ 1 ]    How strong a leadership?  One finds an example:   "Even though a state-run Three-Self church in a county of Luoyang city in the central province of Henan has replaced the Ten Commandments with President Xi Jinping’s quotes after repeated demands, it didn’t escape reprimands from the government. 'The Party must be obeyed in every respect. You have to do whatever the Party tells you to do. If you contradict, your church will be shut down immediately,' United Front Work Department officials lectured the congregation at the end of June." In "Xi Jinping’s Quotes Replace the Ten Commandments in Churches," by Tang Feng, Bitter Winter, 14 September 2019.          The "ism" picture is very clear, should socialist ideologues be confronted with documented proof of Capital for Communists - a story growing old.   [ 2 ]   The article is clear about the various flavors of Communism, having escaped clarity as to a murderousness greater than Germany's National Socialists:   "The Marxists, Bolsheviks, Leninists, Stalinists, Maoists, Castroists, Che Guevara worshippers, Pol Pot supporters, and other fellow travelers who have murdered 100 million people collectively in the name of communism since 1917, were never tried in a public setting like the Nuremberg trial for the Nazis, which condemned National Socialism and its leaders. Communism was never really condemned in such a public forum. For this reason, young people believe that it was a benign part of world history that must be repeated by the right people who are smarter than the communist predecessors."          For this clarity, to report "crony capitalism" as a character of the Chinese Communists is to muddy terms, and to assist in avoiding condemnation of the most murderous single government of the last century.           "...those in power get their lion’s share of the divided pie."           "The media's and ideologues' wordy spree / Is literally failing illiberally."

   

 

---

 

Corruption continuing

The line is long;
The news stays full.
Much of politics
Is just plain bull.
The public purse
As commonweal
Allows these thieves
To simply steal.
Think this rhyme
Too simple? Plain?
Even so,
It does explain --
The line is long
And news will tell
Of criminal politics,
Clear and well.

 

Addendum from Florida:    "By conducting a series of complicated financial transactions to cover his tracks, Thompson embezzled over $650,000 from United Way of Santa Rosa County, according to prosecutors. Thompson maintained his scheme by making fraudulent misrepresentations to United Way's board members and employees, its parent nonprofit United Way Worldwide and bank personnel, according to the press release. He also took steps to prevent internal or external audits of United Way from occurring that would have uncovered his fraud." In " Ex-Milton Mayor Guy Thompson pleads guilty to embezzling $650,000 from United Way," by Annie Blanks, Pensacola News Journal, 9 May 2019.

 

Addendum from Pennsylvania:   "John Green was convicted of conspiring to defraud the citizens of Philadelphia of his honest services as Sheriff of Philadelphia by receiving and accepting a stream of hidden personal benefits from co-defendant James Davis in exchange for giving Davis millions of dollars of business at the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office. From 2002 to 2011, Green accepted hidden bribes and kickbacks from his co-defendant Davis totaling over $675,000." In "Former Sheriff of Philadelphia Sentenced to Prison," US Department of Justice, 1 August 2019.

 

Addendum from Massachusetts:    "The Democrat mayor also is accused of extorting $3,900 in cash and a $7,500-to-$12,000 'Batman' Rolex watch from a property owner in exchange for activating the water supply to his building. In addition, federal prosecutors say Correia demanded his chief of staff give him half of her $78,700 salary in return for appointing her and allowing her to keep her city job." In "Massachusetts mayor arrested for extorting marijuana vendors for 6-figure bribes," by Joey Garrison, USA Today, 7 September 2019.

 

Addendum from New Jersey:   "The mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey has resigned after admitting in federal court on Thursday that he stole $87,000 from a youth basketball team he founded. The admission puts the mayor on a long line of corrupt leadership in the city, which has been riddled with chronic budget problems. Frank Gillam Jr. told the judge he stole funds raised from donors in Atlantic City and Philadelphia for the Atlantic City Starz for personal expenses between 2013 and 2018. He was elected mayor in 2017 after serving as a City Councilman. ... As of 2007, four of the city's last eight mayors had been arrested on corruption charges and one-third of the nine-member City Council was either in prison or under house arrest. " In "Atlantic City mayor resigns after admitting to stealing $87,000 from youth basketball team," by Morgan Philips, Fox News, 3 October 2019.

 

Addendum from Maryland:   "Maryland state lawmaker Tawanna Gaines, a Democrat from Prince George's County, has abruptly resigned after being suspected of using money she raised for her reelection campaign for personal use. She submitted her resignation to House Speaker Adrienne Jones on Friday, Oct. 4. She now faces a federal wire fraud charge. Gaines, 67, has served in the Maryland House of Delegates since 2001 and, according to the AP, defrauded her campaign and its contributors of more than $22,000 from at least January 2015 through April 2018." In "Wire Fraud Charge Prompts MD Lawnaker Tawanna Gaines To Resign,"by Kristin Danley-Greiner, Patch, 8 October 2019.

 

Addendum from Mississippi:   "Five local officials—including an alderman, the fire chief, and the city clerk—have been convicted of a variety of crimes stemming from their efforts to rig a 2017 municipal election, and can never seek public office again. It’s disturbing that so many elected officials, entrusted to represent the people and improve the community, were instead able to corrupt the electoral system in the name of power and personal gain. Courtney Rainey—Canton’s director of human and cultural needs, school board member, and (ironically) judicial candidate—was convicted and sentenced Sept. 23 to 15 years in prison on charges of witness intimidation after she tried to stymie the criminal investigation into her earlier efforts at voter fraud." In "Mississippi Woman Convicted After Trying to Win Votes Via Bribes," by Jason Snead and Kaitlynn Samalis-Aldrich, Daily Signal, 10 October 2019.

 

Addendum from California:   " Rodriguez-Kennedy and Wang each received a "legal settlement" of $150,000. Earley, who serves as the Digital Director for California Democrats, later dropped her claims and alleged in a Medium post she was being intimidated by a top party official, She received a settlement of $78,348, while her attorney, Gloria Allred received an additional $60,000. In the post, Earley called out Vice Chair Daraka Larimore-Hall as the senior witness accused in the suit of having engaged in retaliation and witness tampering. Bauman resigned last November amid claims of misconduct and said at the time that he planned to seek treatment for alcohol use. Two other cases against Bauman remain active. In one of those cases, Bauman’s former assistant alleged that Bauman repeatedly groped and sexually assaulted him. In the other, two former employees and a party activist alleged that they endured sexual assault, harassment and racial discrimination by Bauman." In "California Democrats pay $800G in sexual misconduct cases against ex-state party chairman," by Morgan Phillips, Fox/Associated Press, 13 October 2019.

 

Addendum II from California:   "In addition to violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), Zuberi is charged in a criminal information with tax evasion and making almost $1 million in illegal campaign contributions that included funneling money from foreign entities and individuals to influence U.S. elections. Zuberi, a 49-year-old resident of Arcadia, California, has agreed to plead guilty to the three counts in the information. A plea agreement also filed today in United States District Court notes that Zuberi faces a statutory maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison once he pleads guilty to the charges." In "Campaign Fundraiser Agrees To Plead Guilty To Falsifying Records to Conceal Work as Foreign Agent, Evading Taxes on Income Obtained by Lobbying on Behalf of Foreign Entities, and Illegal Campaign Contributions," Office of Public Affairs, Department of Justice, 22 October 2019.

 

Addendum from New York:    "According to evidence presented at trial, Pikus and his co-conspirators operated a series of medical clinics in Brooklyn and Queens over the course of nearly a decade that submitted approximately $96 million in medical claims. .... More than 25 other individuals have pleaded guilty to or been convicted of participating in the scheme, including physicians, physical and occupational therapists, ambulette drivers, and the owners of several of the sham shell companies used to launder the stolen money." In "Head of New York Medical Clinics Found Guilty in Nearly $100 Million Money Laundering and Health Care Kickback Scheme," Department of Justice, 15 November 2019.

 

Addendum II from Pennsylvania:   "They said the money went to buy designer clothing, multiple fox fur coats, payments on a Porsche, tuition for a relative and travel to Mexico and Florida. They said she also spent $8,000 on criminal restitution from a 2014 conviction for not paying unemployment taxes. Johnson-Harrell previously held a $104,000 job with the victim and witness services unit of the Philadelphia district attorney’s office, and is active in an anti-gun violence foundation named for her 18-year-old son, who was shot to death in 2011." In "Pennsylvania AG Shapiro: State Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell To Plead Guilty To Stealing Over $500,000 From Nonprofit She Founded," by CBS3 Staff, CBS News, 4 December 2019.

 

Addendum from New York II:   "Collins pleaded guilty to securities fraud conspiracy and making false statements to the FBI. He was sentenced in federal court in Manhattan. It's the culmination of a case that began back in August 2018 when Collins was first arrested and charged with this insider trading scheme." In "Former Rep. Chris Collins Sentenced to 26 Months in Prison," by Jeevan Vittal and Bobby Cuza, NY1, 17 January 2020.

 

Addendum from Arkansas:   "Walsh admitted that beginning in 2013, while serving as executive director for SAYS, he agreed to divert SAYS funds to convicted lobbyist Milton “Rusty” Cranford and an unnamed Arkansas state senator in exchange for the state senator’s influence in protecting the nonprofit’s state contracts with the Arkansas Department Health Services (DHS) and DHS’ Division of Youth Services (DYS). As part of that agreement, Walsh was to provide a monthly “legal retainer” to the Arkansas state senator without the expectation that the senator ever provide any legal work. Instead, the purpose of the payments was to obtain the senator’s assistance in preserving the contracts by influencing DHS and DYS officials. According to the plea, Cranford negotiated the amount paid to the senator, which amounted to over $120,000. Additionally, as part of the conspiracy, Walsh admitted to paying Cranford’s lobbying firms above-market prices and employed a relative of Cranford who had a 'no-show' job with SAYS. In total, Walsh illegally diverted approximately $262,000 in charity funds to Cranford’s lobbying firm and relative." In "Former Executive Director of Nonprofit Sentenced for Illegally Diverting Charity Funds to Unnamed State Senator and Convicted Lobbyist," Department of Justice, 26 February 2020.

 

Addendum from Puerto Rico:   "...signs with messages including 'Government, Absent, Criminal, Negligent.'  'I have never come out to protest but this caused me so much anger and indignation,' protester Rubi Oliveras told El Vocero newspaper. 'How is it possible that you say you care about the country and yet you let so many people die while hiding these supplies?' News of the unused emergency supplies spread on social media Saturday when a local blogger posted a Facebook video of angry residents storming the facility, which housed water, cots and other relief supplies dating back to Hurricane Maria in 2017."   In "Puerto Rico protesters call for governor to resign after mob finds relief supplies," by Jorge Fitz-Gibbon, New York Post, 20 January 2020.

 

Addendum of Political Corruption and Foreign Sources:   "Corruption is changing. The old school corruption is where a politician takes a bribe or payoff. These days, the politician doesn't take it themselves, but steers it to an adult child or a best friend. And both political parties are doing it. It's really a question of the kind of leadership we're going to have. It's impossible for our leaders to respond to what we want — to make good decisions — if a chief motivation is to enrich their families and themselves. When you trace the money, you often find it comes from foreign governments like China and from oligarchs in places like Ukraine. And they are willing to throw big money at the political families of our leaders to get favorable policy outcomes." In "Secret Empires," Interview of Peter Schweizer by Perry Atkinson, Focus Today, (posted YouTube) 3 April 2018.

 

It's just old-fashioned American political Corruption   as filtered through the larcenous hand of  Politics

 

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The question's fair

" 'Anyone who is a member of a club has to pay the fee. We may not like it, but the time in which Europe could hide under the American security umbrella for a minimal amount, is over', Rutte said in his speech. 'That movement already started under Obama and the current one makes no secret of it the fact that the disproportionate division of costs within NATO is a thorn in his side. To be honest, I can only show a lot of understanding for that'." In "Dutch PM calls Trump's EU Defense-spending, UN criticism 'justified', by Janene Pieters, NL Times, Netherlands, 4 October 2019.

 

If one refuses to fund one's way,
Why should another fully pay?
The question's fair and, come what may,
The answer is now well underway.

If some won't help refill the pot,
Then less than all is what they've got.
The question's fair. None had forgot
Their missing share is missed a lot.

If some renege upon their pledge,
The whole tiptoes towards the edge
While urging some to drive a wedge,
As such questions now allege.

If to fully ante up some refuse,
Yet drain the cup and so abuse
The sharing portrayed in the news,
Well, what the heck? Let's cry the blues.

 

Addendum of 70 Percent:   " 'Member States have paid only 70 per cent of the total amount needed for our regular budget operations in 2019. This translates into a cash shortage of $230 million at the end of September. We run the risk of depleting our backup liquidity reserves by the end of the month,' he wrote. To cut costs, Guterres mentioned postponing conferences and meetings and reducing services, while also restricting official travel to only essential activities and taking measures to save energy. Guterres had asked member states earlier this year to up contributions to the world body to head off cash flow problems, but they refused, a UN official said on condition of anonymity. 'The ultimate responsibility for our financial health lies with Member States,' Guterres said. Not including what it pays for peacekeeping operations, the UN’s operating budget for 2018-2019 is close to $5.4 billion, with the United States contributing 22 per cent." In "UN may ‘run out of money by Oct end’, says Antonio Guterres in letter to 37,000 employees," Agence France Presse, 8 October 2019.

 

Addendum of One-Third Not Paying Dues:   "The United Nations (UN) is facing its 'worst cash crisis' in nearly a decade because almost one-third of its member states have not paid their annual dues, according to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres." In "UN facing ‘worst cash crisis’ in nearly a decade. Warns staff could go unpaid,' by Sam Meredith, New York Times, 12 October 2019.

 

Addendum of the Bill:    "US President Donald Trump has repeatedly stressed that ensuring the security of US allies is draining the country’s budget. Trump wants to ensure that American military bases generate a profit for the United States, and he therefore intends to have these American overseas military bases undergo a transition so that they pay for themselves, which would see the countries where these American troops are deployed bear the full cost of hosting American servicemen. During a speech at the Pentagon in January, Trump said: 'Wealthy, wealthy countries that we’re protecting are all under notice… We cannot be the fools for others.' At the same time, Trump demanded that his NATO military partners who host US military bases provide full reimbursement for their maintenance, plus 50% on top 'for the privilege of hosting American troops.' Washington even promised discounts and 'bonuses' for countries that fully comply with US foreign policy." In "Who Will Foot the Bill for America’s Military Bases Overseas?" by Vladimir Platov, New Eastern Outlook, 15 November 2019.

 

Consider Guterres' search for Fun ding - repeat the repetition

 

Another view clarifying why I believe in Europe  - but not the shifting lines

 

---

 

Become not too attached to yourself

Become not too attached to yourself.
        There go you, in this by and by.
Another tome on some other shelf
        Might tell, you once did try
To be attached with a permanence
        To the fleeting winds of time.
But time rejects such impertinence
        As a personal sort of crime.
Become not too attached to yourself.
        I speak to myself as to you.
In the furthering of our by and by,
        Such clarity proves so true.

 

---

 

A Nuremberg Defense - a pretense of making sense

I was only following orders
Which came from up above.
This gave me my authority
To nudge and push and shove
And hammer and prevaricate
And condemn the innocent,
For such is following orders,
As far as it is meant.
I was only following orders,
Although I had agreed
With what the orders clearly said
In ugly, hateful screed.
To follow was a joy for me
And all complaint was mute,
Until we all were captured
And had to loud refute....
I was only following orders,
Which came from up above.

 

Addendum of a Legal Strategy:   "... the most common defense strategy was that the crimes defined in the London Charter were examples of ex post facto law; that is, they were laws that criminalized actions committed before the laws were drafted. Another defense was that the trial was a form of victor’s justice – the Allies were applying a harsh standard to crimes committed by Germans and leniency to crimes committed by their own soldiers." In "Nuremberg Trials," History.com, 7 June 2019.

 

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Heroes' Tale - small and stale

"...the fact that the activists are white is a big part of the story."

 

Lily White Left her home Clad in black On that day. Warrior, knight, She did roam To attack Just for play.

Billy Beige Came along, Black his dress, So headstrong. Warrior, too, He did seek Those to fight, Best, if weak.

Billy, Lily, Beige and White, Middle class Dynamite, Cheered themselves, Two, a few, Who would strike Me or you.

In the end Beige and White Tell their tale Fraught with spite. Anger lives Inside, bright, Sometimes Beige, Sometimes White.

 

"Sometimes beige, sometimes white"

 

Addendum of Selecting the Barely Disguised:   "Antifa, for its part, is all about provocation — from blocking city streets when tired workers are just trying to get home to shutting down invited college lecturers whom they deem 'fascists.' Sometimes they are about worse stuff than provocation — as when they targeted the journalist Andy Ngo, a contributor to these pages, and sent him to the hospital with a brain hemorrhage. Yes, the Proud Boys have some truly toxic folks in their ranks, but antifa is marginally scarier, ­because its violent methods enjoy barely disguised backing of the city’s liberal elites — so long as the violence is directed at the right villains." In "The antifa wars are all about machismo," by Stephanie Gutmann, New York Post, 19 August 2019.

 

  

"...steeped in (and almost unique to) whiteness."

 

Addendum of Privileged Whites:  "...roots in the far left of the English punk scene in the 1980s. Antifa’s goals are not those of most non-white Americans. Most non-white Americans don’t want to destroy the systems of government, abolish the police, end capitalism, or cripple corporations. The group is absolutely trying to impose a style of anarchy that is steeped in (and almost unique to) whiteness. When cowards wear masks to engage in violence, we must remove the masks to see who we are actually dealing with—not the fairy tale of diversity version. When Andy Ngo, a minority gay man, is mercilessly beaten up by white activists, the fact that the activists are white is a big part of the story in today’s landscape. Don’t believe the progressive narrative: Antifa is mostly a bunch of privileged white dudes." In "Antifa Is Mostly Made Up Of Privileged White Dudes," by David Marcus, Federalist, 1 July 2019.

 

"...overwhelmingly white."

 

Addendum of Mostly White Radicals:   "... why is it when we see video and photos of similar demonstrations in recent years, the demonstrators seem overwhelmingly to be white, if not actually from that most deplorable subset of white, the 'cis-white-hetero-patriarchy' (CWHP)? From available evidence, albeit anecdotal, it seems implausible that the individuals organizing these 'convergences' and 'direct actions' are not mostly white. But rationality, or, for that matter, actual QTPOC supremacy, is not the ultimate objective of the identitarian Left in America. Which brings us to the true ideology of America’s far Left, from Antifa to academia: It is a coalition of mostly white activists who despise capitalism, private property, traditional American values, their own heritage, and, arguably, themselves. They couch their Communist core values in the same identitarian rhetoric that they claim to oppose when it comes from right-wing sources." In "Antifa’s Identitarian Ideology," by Edward Ring, Tennessee Star, 10 August 2019.

 

"...it seems implausible that the individuals organizing these 'convergences' and 'direct actions' are not mostly white."

 

  

 

 

Addendum of Wendy's:   "Welcome to America where a white girl can burn down Wendy's and the black people get blamed for it." In "WHITE GIRL BURNED DOWN WENDY'S IN ATL: BLACK PEOPLE BLAMED FOR IT," YouTube video by TJ Football Prophet, 14 June 2020.

 

    

Portland "Black Lives Matter" whites stop and harass a black female driver, 6 September 2020

 

Addendum of 'Black Lives Matter' Whites Against a Black Woman:   "One woman tried to drive on the streets of Portland, but the rioters blocked her. At one point, they falsely accused her of hitting them with her car. To demonstrate the fact that she wasn’t hitting them, the woman actually got out of her car. 'Move, get out of the way,' the black woman told the rioters. 'Because you killed my brother, move, get out of the way.' 'You settin’ fires in the street, no, that's violence,' the woman insisted. 'That's violence. Get out of my way.' She complained that the rioters are 'tearing up' her home and suggested they 'go tear up' other neighborhoods. 'Get your a** away from here. Move!' 'Now they see how ignorant this looks,' the black woman continued. 'You don’t let somebody call me a f***ing n****r b**ch'.   " In "Black Woman Takes Antifa Rioters to Task for Calling Her a 'F***ing N****r B**ch'," by Tyler O'Neil, PJMedia, 7 September 2020.
 

Addendum of Burning A Black-Owned Business:   "In Rochester, New York, Jesse Barksdale, owner of JRibs, a corner store offering a variety of products and services, including UHaul rentals, was set ablaze during riots Sunday night." In "Black-Owned Business Set Ablaze During Overnight Riots in Rochester," Posted by Kemberlee Kaye, Legal Insurrection, 7 September 2020.

 

One from the Buttercup White Boy Generation

 

Addendum of a Buttercup White Boy:   "Clearly nothing more than a wannabe. The buttercup white boy generation that can't fight solo. So instead he joins a fake movement to 'help blacks', where he and his so-called gang destroy everything in sight. They wear masks, because they dare not be identified by blacks and found solo. I know if I knew of one of these pansies pretending to fight for me, then burning sh*t down, I would absolutely kick his ass. As for Banta, The Green Bay Press-Gazette reported, 'He was carrying stickers and a flag for the controversial group — the name of which is short for 'anti-fascist' — along with 'military-grade 5-minute' smoke grenades, fireworks rockets, and a flamethrower." In "Antifa Leader's SURPRISING Reaction When Arrested," by Kevin Jackson, The Black Sphere, 11 September 2020.

 

Consider the White Noise

 

---

 

Immediate and drastic action - hysteria gaining traction

"Here's the opening of a New York Times article: 'The question is again being discussed whether recent and long-continued observations do not point to the advent of a second glacial period, when the countries now basking in the fostering warmth of a tropical sun will ultimately give way to the perennial frost and snow of the polar regions.' The date: February 24, 1895. A subhead on the article noted: 'Geologists Think the World May Be Frozen Up Again.' By the 1930s, the concern had shifted. 'NEXT GREAT DELUGE FORECAST BY SCIENCE / Melting Polar Ice Caps to Raise the Level of Seas and Flood the Continents,' proclaimed the New York Times, May 15, 1932. By the 1970s, we we were back to Global Cooling. 'Get a grip on your long johns, cold weather haters – the worst may be yet to come. That’s the long-range weather forecast being given out by 'climatologists,' the people who study very long-term world weather trends.' So reported the Washington Post in a January 11, 1970 article entitled 'Colder Winters Held [sic] Dawn of New Ice Age / Scientists See Ice Age In the Future'." In "Global Cooling is on the way! Give up your freedom NOW!" by Steven J. Allen, Capital Research, 8 July 2014.

 

Immediate and drastic action
                Must be taken now,
Or else we all are truly doomed
                As forecasts all allow.
Rush to judgment, rush to act,
                Hysteria shrieks and shouts,
Because that is its nature
                And why it seldom doubts.
Yesterday is far too late
                To act and yet we must
Act with drastic immediacy
                And act because it's just....

Immediate and drastic action
                To be taken now!

 

Already out of date

 

Addendum of Not So Fast from Berlin:    "At a hearing in Berlin on Thursday, the farmers, backed by the Greenpeace environmental pressure group, said the government was violating their rights by cutting greenhouse gas emissions at a slower rate than promised. But the court rejected their plea. It said the federal cabinet’s political commitments were not binding in the sense that the farmers claimed, and that the government also had leeway in deciding how to meet its obligation to protect the farmers’ property and livelihoods from climate change." In "German court rejects farmers’ climate change challenge," by Thomas Escritt, Reuters, 31 October 2019.

 

Addendum of the Warmer First Millennium:     Our reconstructions indicate – in agreement with the results of Moberg et al. (2005); Ljungqvist (2010), and Loehle and McCulloch (2008) – that the first millennium AD was generally significantly warmer than the second millennium AD." In "The extra-tropical Northern Hemisphere temperature in the last two millennia: reconstructions of low-frequency variability," by B. Christiansen and F. C. Ljungqvist, Clim. Past, 8, 765–786, 2012.  

 

Oh for a dose of nostalgia:   Do you remember the good old days?

 

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Clutch those pearls! - first world swirls

Clutch those pearls!
Your knickers in a knot,
Your panties in a bunch,
Affluent little snot.
Pearls before swine
Tells the myth so true,
As pearl-clutching swine
Stir their first-world stew.
Clutch those pearls!
Protest this and that,
Protest just to protest,
Pig as Copy Cat.

 

 

Addendum of Topless Dancing and Disco-bedience:   " 'We're here on Gran Via in Madrid doing civil disco-bedience,' she added as protesters danced around her. Despite the cool winter temperatures, some of the demonstrators danced topless along the street." In "Dancing crowds protest in Madrid while climate leaders meet," by Elena Rodriguez and Guillermo Martinez, Reuters, 7 December 2019.

 

  

"Fun with extinction"

 

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Ray shall hoax us  - to make a fuss

Ray shall hoax us;
Color me shocked.
    All about awareness
    Some concoct.
        Ray shall hoax us;
        Supplies run dry.
            This is so needed --
            Testify by lie.
        Ray shall hoax us
        In black and white,
    Itching to urge
    The urge to fight.
Ray shall hoax us,
That the prize;
    Honesty murdered,
        Replaced by lies.

 

Addendum of a Protest by Students of Color:   "Shortly before the administration admitted the signs were a hoax, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Diversity & Inclusion Patrick Sims went further than the administration statement in suggesting culprits. '[W]e have been informed that it was part of a protest by students of color,' he tweeted. The administration was considering 'next steps' in response to the hoax. The administration’s official messaging has stuck with phrasing that does not refer to the race of the vandals." In " Hoax confirmed: 'Whites Only' sign at UW-Madison was part of protest for 'underrepresented students'," by Greg Piper, College Fix, 18 October 2019.

 

Addendum from the Underrepresented University:   "These posters appear now to be part of a coordinated campaign calling attention to experiences of underrepresented students. While we support the right to freedom of expression, we also have policies that prohibit the posting of unauthorized material on campus property. As with any incident like this, we are gathering more information and will be following up as appropriate." In "Statement in response to posters on campus," University of Wisconsin-Madison web site, 18 October 2019.

 

Addendum of Being Pretty Typical:   " Racially diverse schools allow students to meet and learn from others from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. It also means the school is working to fairly represent and support all students. University of Wisconsin - Madison is pretty typical when it comes to ethnic diversity, being ranked at #1,659 in the nation. Wisconsin Ethic Diversity Rank (1,659 out of 2,718)." In "Wisconsin Diversity & Demographics," College Factual, n. d.

 

Addendum of Paying for a False Claim:   "The college admissions scandal mom who falsely claimed her son was African-American and Hispanic to increase his chances of getting into a top college was sentenced to three weeks in prison on Wednesday. Marjorie Klapper, 51, copped to paying $15,000 to fudge her son’s ACT exam score in May as part of the nationwide scandal. She also agreed to portray him as a racial minority and a first-generation student on his applications — though both she and her husband graduated from college, prosecutors said." In "Mom who lied about son’s ethnicity on college apps gets 3 weeks in jail," by Tamar Lapin, New York Post, 17 October 2019.

 

Addendum of Unverified Claims about Race:    "Eyeing stricter controls in the federal government’s minority contracting program, a House oversight panel on Tuesday is expected to address the findings of a Times investigation that showed that companies received more than $300 million in taxpayer-funded contracts based on unverified claims that their owners were Native American." In "House Committee to Vet Minority Contracting Program Following Investigation Into ‘Cherokee’ Claims," KTLA News/ Los Angeles Times, 21 October 2019.

 

Addendum from 'Racist' Finland:    "On Monday Hussein told daily Helsingin Saonmat that while he did have 'a man behaving in a racist manner' in his taxi, he did not remove the passenger from the vehicle. He said that he tweeted about the incident to spark discussion about the harassment that taxi drivers face. 'I wrote the tweet on Sunday because I was angry,' he said. Hussein’s taxi operator, Taksi Helsinki, said it had looked into the incident and found that his story did not match up with GPS data from the taxi. On Monday, the firm tweeted that no passengers had been asked to leave a taxi." In "Helsinki city councillor apologises for false story about abusive taxi passenger," by Uutiset, 11 November 2019.

 

Addendum of Those Black White Nationalists:    "Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) deleted a tweet Thursday morning in which she falsely credited Tuesday's deadly shooting at a kosher deli in Jersey City, New Jersey to 'white supremacy' when in fact, the suspected shooters were reportedly Black Hebrew Israelites. Tlaib deleted the post just minutes after it went up, but not before close observers were able to nab a screenshot." In "Rashida Tlaib deletes tweet falsely blaming Jersey City shooting on 'white supremacy'," by Brielle Diskin, Yahoo News / The Week, 12 December 2019.   ^{[ 1 ]}

 

Addendum of an Attack That Wasn't:   "A 26-year-old man faked his own stabbing at the West Bloomfield synagogue where he worked and then reported he was attacked because of his Jewish faith, authorities say. Now Sean Samitt is facing a felony charge of filing a false police report, according to West Bloomfield Police." In " He told police he was stabbed for being Jewish. Then his Apple Watch caught him in a lie," by Bisma Parvez, Detroit Free Press, 3 January 2020.   ^{[ 2 ]}

 

Addendum of Another Racial Hoax:   "Hospitalized in very serious conditions for a deep cut in the throat, the 27 year old Sadio Camara had said that he had been insulted and attacked by two men on the street, causing great clamor. Now the truth: the African would have invented everything, after having caused himself the injury." In "Senegalese stabbed: no racism, he had injured himself," by Federico Garau, Il Giornale, 14 February 2020.    ^{[ 3 ]}

 

Addendum of Another Racial Hoax:   "The suspect is described as a black male, between 25 to 35 years of age, with a medium build. He was wearing a black jacket, gray sweatshirt, blue jeans, brown shoes and carrying a black duffel bag." In "Philadelphia Police Release Images Of Suspect Wanted For Spray-Painting Racial Slurs On Cecil B. Moore Mural," by CBS3 Staff, CBS Philly, 26 February 2020.   ^{[ 4 ]}

 

Addendum of Another Racial Hoax:   "His pickup truck has two N****** spray-painted on it. A car was painted with the phrase 'Leave N******' and 'Trump.' Foster was taken into custody Friday and charged with insurance fraud and tampering with evidence, but Southaven police stopped short of explicitly saying Foster was responsible for the graffiti. 'That it was a hoax just kind of made us look silly,' Foster's neighbor Shelby Littleton said." In " Southaven man who reported racist graffiti on vehicles charged with insurance fraud," by Eryn Taylor, Luke JonesWREG News3, 28 February 2020.

 

Addendum of a Question:   "If racism is so rampant in America, why is it that time and time again people must resort to staging fake hate crimes to expose it?" In "‘White pride' hoax: Woman arrested for 'pulling a Jussie Smollett'," by Tom Tillison, BizPacReview, 8 March 2020.

 

Addendum of Political Convenience:   "We black people are so convenient and useful to America's leftists. Whenever there's a bit of silencing to be done, just accuse a detractor or critic of racism." In "Manipulation Through Racial Hoaxes," by Walter E. Williams, Townhall, 8 April 2020.   ^{[ 5 ]}

 

Addendum of Separate Incidents and the Masked Individual:   "Dominguez Peña reported she was attacked by a masked individual who placed a bag and rope over her head, groped her and slammed her head against the railing in a dormitory stairwell. ...All the cases remained unsolved—until March 9, 2020. After nearly a year of investigations involving multiple agencies, the LVPD said at a press conference that Dominguez Peña, 25, had faked the threats against herself and others in ten total separate 'incidents.' The same day, she was arrested on felony charges of making criminal threats and perjury, as well as seven misdemeanors related to electronic impersonation and filing false police reports." In "Racist Threats and Attacks that Rattled a California University Campus Were Faked, Police Say," by Andy Ngo, Newsweek, 13 April 2020.

 

Consider Man's Penchant for Lies and the Phenomenon of  Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha

 

NOTE   [ 1 ]    That racial politics as a political strategy seems so quickly triggered should be an embarrassment. It does not seem so, alas.  One reads of that surrounding the murderous attack in Jersey City, as filtered trough the celebrity of a talk show personality:   " 'The liar in chief is the one who spouting all this stuff! He's the one. Well just the other day he used an anti-Semitic trope. Trump did. I mean, he’s the worst one! And he’s at the top!' she ranted angrily. After spouting this nonsense, the host cut to commercial. As was reported later that day, the suspects, who were killed by police during the shootout, were actually associated with the 'Black Israelites,' an anti-white, anti-Semitic fringe religious group. The shooters also expressed hatred towards law enforcement." In "Joy Behar Blames NJ Shooting on the Right: Trump Letting 'White Nationalists Out of Their Holes'," by Kristine Marsh, News Busters, 13 December 2019.           Not all racial hoaxes are equal. Some are performed on national television.           Others are performed with graffiti. To identify "anti-white, anti-Semitic" black suspects as "white nationalists" seems sure to stoke polarization among those who do not follow the news stories to their factual ends.           But as to a "white" suspect and his "racial slurs" in graffiti, one finds some facts, which do not fit the "narrative."   James Dees             "Dees, a former pilot with Delta subsidiary Endeavor Air, is said to have admitted to authorities that he wrote racial slurs, including '#MAGA=No N*****S=NO SP**S,' multiple times on the walls of airport bathrooms and the parking lot elevator at Tallahassee International Airport." In "Airline pilot, 53, is charged for 'writing racist and anti-Trump graffiti on walls of Tallahassee airport 20 times over the course of a year," by Ariel Zilber, Dailymail.com, 20 January 2020.           Is it of the political Left to use racial slurs?  One might consider the curious case of the Jewish nigger .   [ 2 ]   The article notes a detail of race:   "He reported the crime on Dec. 15, telling police that he was confronted about 7 p.m. as he was leaving work by a white male in his late 30s to early 40s. Samitt said that the alleged attacker shouted, 'You Jews!' and said 'too many immigrants are here,' according to the police report obtained by the Free Press through a Freedom of Information Act request."           Some hoaxes are recorded for posterity. And evidence after an arrest.   [ 3 ]   The original in Italian: "Ricoverato in gravissime condizioni per un profondo taglio alla gola, il 27enne Sadio Camara aveva raccontato di essere stato insultato ed aggredito da due uomini per strada, suscitando grande clamore. Ora la verità: l'africano si sarebbe inventato tutto, dopo essersi provocato da solo la ferita."   [ 4 ]    To sow discord a "black male" suspect, caught on camera, does this?  "North Philly residents are outraged after discovering offensive and racist language on the mural of Moore. The vandalism included the F-word and the N-word and it was an eyesore on the corner of Bouvier and Jefferson Streets on Saturday morning after someone defaced the 25-year-old mural overnight. 'The timing, it's Black History Month. It's a nice, black area. It’s just not adding up,' Jackson said." In "Philadelphia Police Investigating After Mural Depicting Cecil B. Moore Found Defaced With Racist Graffiti," by Chanteé Lans, CBS Philly, 15 February 2020.   [ 5 ]    Consider William's and others' observations as regards the race-based assertion, Everything's about your colored skin - (or sadly, why these games begin).

 

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Chicago Poem VII

"The fact is, there’s not enough money to accommodate CTU’s demands even if they were reasonable. The district’s credit rating sits at junk status due to decades of financial mismanagement, reckless borrowing and personnel costs. The teacher pension fund is alarmingly underfunded. And the city faces an $838 million gap in its budget for next year, which Lightfoot is scheduled to address on Wednesday. The schools’ and the city’s budgets are separate. But the taxpayers supporting them are the same. Those taxpayers include private sector workers trying to save for their own retirements while propping up billions of dollars in promised benefits to the public sector. Lightfoot needs to represent them at the bargaining table too." In "Chicago Teachers Union puts the squeeze on Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and taxed-out taxpayers," by The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 24 October 2019.   ^{[ 1 ]}

There's not enough money,
So let's squeeze more.
Johnny Public's purse
Is where we score.
When Johnny's wallet's low,
Let's tap his credit card,
'Til poor old Johnny
Taps out, as life is hard.

There's not enough money,
So let's strike now
While the iron's hot,
And then somehow
Johnny's public purse
Will once again flow.
Surely this will work,
For Johnny can't say no.

There's not enough money,
That what we say,
But it is mean and nasty
As Johnny Public may
Finally vote against this,
A shock to those whose way
Is to strike swift and hot.
Will Johnny walk away,
When that's all he's got?

 

Addendum Looking Back Some Years:   "Chicagoans can ill afford another CTU contract that includes big pay raises – according to U.S. Census Bureau data, the median earnings of the Chicago taxpayers paying teachers’ salaries was $31,096 between 2009 and 2013. The median salary for a CPS teacher, on the other hand, is $78,910. Chicago public school teachers are also well-compensated compared to their peers in other districts. A comparison among the 50 largest U.S. school districts reveals that Chicago teachers now rank among the top three highest-paid groups of teachers in each of the three categories of teacher pay measured by the National Council on Teacher Quality." In "Chicago teachers highest paid among nation’s 50 largest school districts," by Amy Korte, Illinois Policy, 5 February 2016.   ^{[ 2 ]}

 

Addendum from a Chicagoan:   "...Chicagoans — of all colors and tax brackets — most come together. Democrats have run the city (and state) for 50-plus years and consider 424 murders an 'improvement.' Blindly following the party, any party, is clearly not working. I’ll repeat it: Black lives don’t matter to these people, black votes do. Until my fellow Chicagoans accept this hard truth, we can expect to remain one of the most violent cities on earth. And while I realize this issue is far beyond politics, it is clear the liberal solutions we continue to see offered by local leaders have failed." In " Violence in Chicago proves black lives don’t matter to liberal politicians," by Gianno Caldwell, NY Post, 9 November 2019.   ^{[ 3 ]}

 

Addendum of the Chicago Way Leading in Corruption:   "Fifty weeks before voters say yea or nay to Democrats’ plan for a graduated income tax that would rake in new dollars by the billions, here’s what the people of Illinois see: Citizens see federal agents ripping at the innards of Illinois governance and politics. From clout artists at Chicago’s City Hall to lobbyists for a big utility to one state legislator who allegedly tried to bribe another, the feds are exploring how bills pass, how favors flow and how politicians scam their fellow citizens. These are individual cases, for now. But the intensifying percussion of warrants, raids and wiretaps reinforces the impression that corruption runs rampant here. Each alleged wrongdoing reeks of greed and personal privilege." In "Illinois’ corruption scandals complicate the Democrats’ tax push," Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 20 November 2019.

 

Addendum of a Top Cop Pleading Guilty:   "Johnson, 55, pleading guilty in May to theft of government funds, admitting he bilked the Social Security Administration out of a total of $363,064 from the time of his mother’s death in May 1994 to November 2017 when the scheme was uncovered." In "Ex-Chicago police commander spared prison for collecting dead mom’s Social Security checks for years," by Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune, 3 Dec 2019.

 

Addendum of an Exodus:   "Since 2015, almost 50,000 black residents have left. They have been driven out of the city by segregation, gun violence, discriminatory policing, racial disparities in employment, the uneven quality of public schools and frustration at life in neighborhoods whose once-humming commercial districts have gone quiet, as well as more universal urban complaints like rising rents and taxes." In "Black Families Came to Chicago by the Thousands. Why Are They Leaving?" by Julie Bosman, New York Times, 17 February 2020.   ^{[ 4 ]}

 

NOTES   [ 1 ]     The current mayor, a Democrat, beat the Union head, a Democrat, for the office of mayor in the last election. "...the mayor and Chicago Public Schools say it's just not realistic to fund everything the union wants. 'CPS is not flush with cash,' the mayor said. 'The fact is there is no more money. Period'." In "Chicago's teacher strike heads into another week, with no end in sight. Here's what's at stake," by Holly Yan, CNN, 22 October 2019.   Democrats Against Democrats             This pits Democrats against Democrats, for in Chicago there is seemingly no political opposition. The current opposition is simple mathematics. As the current Democrat mayor says:  "...there is no more money."           It is most informative to read an odd political statement:  " 'If you think of us as a political party, we're not a very strong one,' said Chris Cleveland, chairman of the Chicago GOP. 'But if you think of us as an interest group, we're an 800 pound gorilla. Name another interest group that gets 20% of the vote. No one else comes close'." In "The Chicago Republican Party is Recruiting 2020 Candidates!" by Chris Cleveland, Chicago GOP, 16 August 2019.   There Are No Alternatives             The last Republican Party mayor was William H. Thompson, served held office from 1927 to 1931. From 1932 until 2019, almost ninety years, the mayor has been a Democrat Party member. One may conclude correctly that the current strike, the underfunding and the demands for more taxes and more debt are a function of and the responsibility of Democrat Party politics and policies. There is no rational alternative.   [ 2 ]    The Chicago Public Schools and its pension fund are propped up by debt. "Ballooning pension costs have already strained school coffers, but still were not enough to keep the district’s unpaid retirement debts from growing. By this summer, the pension fund estimated its assets cover only half of the benefits its members have earned. Those trends continue to pose questions about how CPS will manage to absorb its pension debts while investing in education. 'What you’re going to end up doing is diverting money that was initially intended to be operating revenue to educate kids to pay for what you didn’t put into your pension system in the past,' Martire said. 'That’s going to be what happens, because there’s no way out of making the pension payment. Our state constitution is very clear'." In "Chicago Public Schools' huge pension debt just got $1 billion deeper, new estimates show," by Juan Perez Jr., Chicago Tribune, 27 March 2018.   Chicago Residents On the Debt Hook             This was not news.  Years earlier,  "It’s no secret that Chicago is in a pension crisis and deeply in debt. Most of that debt comes from the city’s pensions, but health insurance and long-term debt are also a significant part of Chicago’s fiscal shortfall. In total, Chicago residents are officially on the hook for $63.2 billion in government pensions, health insurance and other debt. That’s more than $23,000 per Chicago resident, or more than $61,000 per household." In "Chicago’s $63 billion debt burden," by John Klinger, Illinois Policy, 12 May 2014.           Pause to reflect.  The city's debt amounts to "more than $23,000 per Chicago resident," while the median taxpayer's income as circa $31,096."  How is the average taxpayer in Chicago going to pay down, much less off, the public debt? Answer: they are not.  Mayor Lightfoot is correct in asserting that there is "no more money."   [ 3 ]    When "improvement" means as the writer observed, it is a tragedy.  Caldwell noted:  "... the liberal press touted the decrease in violence in Chicago in some apparent attempt to prove how out of touch Trump is. The decrease? Through the end of October, there have been 2,242 shooting victims and 424 murders in Chicago. Last year, we had 2,462 shooting victims and 478 murders over the same period."   Gianno Caldwell             That politics is about money is clear. That money is running out for Chicago, as Mayor Lightfoot stated, is also clear. That politics is about Corruption in and around the political class is demonstrably clear.           Caldwell makes his point. Others make a parallel and informative point.   Breanna Edwards             But first, some place Chicago among other violent inner cities, as if this explains away some fact. One reads:  "Chicago fell neatly just about in the middle of the pack. Outstripping Chicago in murders were: St. Louis; Baltimore; New Orleans; Detroit; Cleveland; Kansas City, Mo.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Newark, N.J." In "Why Does Violence in Chicago Attract So Much Attention, Even Though It's Not the Murder Capital of The U.S.?" by Breanna Edwards, The Root, 21 August 2018.           There is a key observation in her article which relates to Mayor Lightfoot's conclusion that Chicago is running out of money, even as the teachers' union demands more.  "Even now black Chicagoans are leaving the city in droves, seeking better opportunities, but that leaves the city and those remaining residents of color even more vulnerable. 'People are leaving one; because they don’t have the amount of economic opportunities that they should. Two, they are living in communities that are deeply under-resourced and they're experiencing deep instability, that includes violence but it also includes not having stable housing [and] not having access to quality healthcare...And those populations are concentrated, not limited, but concentrated on the South and West sides of the city,' Carruthers said. 'When we lose the black population in the city what happens is we have the potential for less political power and we absolutely have the potential for less economic power'."           Less political power comes when the political spin of "improvement" collides with reality.  As the mayor stated, "The fact is, there’s not enough money to accommodate CTU’s demands even if they were reasonable."  When politics no longer can effectively address critical social and financial realities, what is left for Politics ?           What's left is to play politics and scrounge for money from others and power over others until....   [ 4 ]    The NY Times article quotes a Chicago pastor, Marshall Hatch, who states, "African American Chicago is being destroyed."  This question is pertinent, but a simple review of Chicago politics and the so-called "Chicago way" tells that the last Republican mayor of the city, William Hale Thompson, was in office in 1931.   Pastor Hatch, New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church             Eighty-nine years of Democrat Party rule (as of 2020), and the Times asks in its article's title, "Why Are They Leaving?" The current mayor says "there's not enough money." Poor Chicago "is being destroyed." By which political party and what political policies? Hmm.

 

---

 

Polar bear, polar bear

"It can also be difficult for photographers to capture images that reflect global heating, weather patterns and wildlife extinction, especially when trying to depict what cannot always be seen. We know, from years of experience, that people love polar bears and pandas, so it is easy to see how these appealing creatures have become the emblems for the topics of endangered species and what we previously termed as global warming. Often, when signalling environmental stories to our readers, selecting an image of a polar bear on melting ice has been the obvious – though not necessarily appropriate – choice. These images tell a certain story about the climate crisis but can seem remote and abstract – a problem that is not a human one, nor one that is particularly urgent." In "Why we're rethinking the images we use for our climate journalism," by Fiona Shields, Guardian UK, 18 October 2019.   ^{[ 1 ]}

 

Polar bear, polar bear, white as snow,
No longer welcome in the picture show.
Polar bear, polar bear, on that floe,
Your species still thrives. Oh grief! Oh woe!
Polar bear, polar bear, don't you know?
When imagery fails -- well -- out you go.

 

 

Addendum of an Assertion of a Perfect Symbol:    "They cling precariously to the top of what is left of the ice floe, their fragile grip the perfect symbol of the tragedy of global warming. Captured on film by Canadian environmentalists, the pair of polar bears look stranded on chunks of broken ice." In "Global warming sees polar bears stranded on melting ice," by Bill Mouland, Daily Mail, 1 February 2007.

 

Addendum of Not Necessarily:   "...while the general consensus is that climate change is destroying our planet, this photo isn’t necessarily evidence of that. Professor Iain Stirling of the University of Alberta told Mashable ‘You have to be a little bit careful about drawing conclusions immediately. [The bear] may be starving but it may just be old." In "This photo of a starving polar bear might not be all it seems," by Nicholas Reilly, Metro UK, 14 September 2015.

 

Addendum of Not Knowing For Sure:   "There’s no doubt that as the sea ice declines more and more bears are going to starve to death, said Amstrup. 'I don’t know if that poor bear in that video was starving. I do know that the only solution for the long-term survival of the polar bear is to address climate change'." In "Polar Bears Really Are Starving Because of Global Warming, Study Shows," by Stephen Leahy, National Geographic, 1 February 2018.    ^{[ 2 ]}

 

Addendum of  Scores of Assumptions:   "Polar bear population was believed to be endangered, especially due to global warming and melting of sea ice. However, recent study shows polar bear numbers have risen. So what does this mean? Are polar bears endangered or not? The crux of the matter is that different claims are made based on scores of assumptions. All these studies are approximations and further detailed studies are yet to be conducted." In "Are Polar Bears Endangered? The Truth Will Leave You in Shock," by Priya Johnson, Animal Sake, 16 February 2018.   ^{[ 3 ]}

 

Addendum of an Admission:   "...carbon dioxide is a major villain. Because carbon dioxide is created by burning fossil fuels, the world's major energy sources, the most immediate way to curtail carbon dioxide emissions is to consume less energy. 'What we've got to do in energy conservation is try to ride the global warming issue,' said Sen. Timothy E. Wirth, D-Colo., the Energy and Natural Resources Committee's point man on that issue and chairman of the Alliance to Save Energy. 'Even if the theory of global warming is wrong, to have approached global warming as if it is real means energy conservation, so we will be doing the right thing anyway in terms of economic policy and environmental policy.' Wirth introduced legislation on July 28 to establish a national energy policy that would, among other things, 'increase energy efficiency in all sectors of the U.S. economy'." In "Less Burning, No Tears," by Rochelle L. Stanfield, National Journal, 13 August 1988.   ^{[ 4 ]}

 

TIME 1977

How To Survive The Coming Ice Age

 

Don't forget to ask -- Do you remember the good old days?

 

NOTES   [ 1 ]    The Guardian observes:   "However, in its simplest form, getting the emotional tone of imagery in line with the issue is critical, rather than the visual overload of society universally having fun in the sun. We hope that if we keep having these conversations, we will be able to have even more of an impact with our climate coverage, and others will follow suit."           Bear with them:   "...we're rethinking the images we use for our climate journalism."   [ 2 ]     As to Amstrup, another view is found:   "A bit of reflection shows it was the climate science community itself — in collaboration with Arctic researchers and the media — who by the year 2000 (below left) set the polar bear up as an icon for catastrophic global warming. They made the polar bear a proxy for AGW." In "Failed Amstrup polar bear predictions," Polar Bear Science" blog, 4 January 2018.     [ 3 ]   The article adds:  "Considering global warming and its effect on sea ice, scientists predicted the number of polar bears along the western shore of Hudson Bay, to drop to 613. However, contrary to their estimation, the number of polar bears rose to a number of 1,013 (may be even higher). This means despite rising temperatures and melting ice, polar bears still have been able to hunt, swim and reproduce. Drikus Gissing, director of wildlife with the Government of Nunavut says, "the bear population is not in crisis as people believed". He also goes on to say, "If I could convey one message here, it's that polar bears are not endangered".   a few thousand  <  between 22,000 and 31,000             And yet, an academic ran afoul of those who would have the imagery speak.  One reads:  "Susan Crockford received her Ph.D. in interdisciplinary studies - biology and anthropology - in 2004. Her most recent book, 'The Polar Bear Catastrophe that Never Happened' was published in February and in which she says polar bears are not threatened. She also quoted the International Union for Conservation of Nature's 2015 Red List of Threatened Species, which puts the polar bear population between 22,000 and 31,000 despite the belief that the population has dropped to a few thousand. " In " Professor fired after claiming polar bears are thriving in climate change, 'When push came to shove, UVic threw me under the bus rather than stand up for my academic freedom,' said Crockford." Staff, Jerusalem Post, 22 October 2019.           Other academics "simulate" the future to predict polar bear decimation:   "Our SnowDens-3D simulations account for erosion by applying observed Arctic Alaska coastal erosion rates to our simulation domain. These simulations quantify the potential reduction in available polar bear denning habitat along Alaska’s Arctic coast that may result from atmospheric changes and coastal erosion." In "Modeling the Potential Effects of Climate Change on the Availability of Polar Bear Denning Habitat," by Megan Lu Liu, Glen E Liston, Adele Reinking, Craig J Perham and Richard T Shideler, AGU Fall Meeting, 10 December 2019.           One may therefore conclusively conclude that certain conclusions y be concluded, and other conclusions may not be concluded, because "science...."           One may then return to the modal mode of language as some scientists use language itself to predict the approved future of "could":   Could and May - an up-to-date play.   [ 4 ]    "...even if the theory of global warming is wrong," at least it has shown the effect in terms of "in terms of economic policy and environmental policy," as one tabulates the massive, aggregate losses of Bankrupt green .           "Climate journalism" seems to have missed the "economic policy" story, rather in the same way as it now jettisons the iconic imagery of the polar bear. Don't forget Time's penguin. iconic for the "ice age" stories, as above.

 

---

 

I've made up my little mind

"The media are missing the biggest story since the fall of the Soviet Union. Something strange is upending the world and it's almost as if they've made up their minds to be the last to know." In "The Media Are Missing the Biggest Story Since the Fall of the Soviet Union," by Richard Fernandez, PJ Media, 17 November 2019.

I've made up my little mind
        To be the last to know.
Though the world is changing,
        And as the pictures show,
I'll cling to willful blindness
        Which cossets me, and so
I've made up my little mind
    To be the last to know.

 

---

 

Brittle Little

"At a time when faith in the integrity of the media is at an all-time low, it is interesting to note that certain factions of the American left seem to be opposed to the very idea of established journalism norms and ethical press practices entirely. Just last week, the student government at Harvard voted to condemn the university’s student newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, for daring to follow basic journalism guidelines. For a September story on student protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions, the offending news organization merely reached out to the agency for comment, as would be standard practice in any newsroom in the country." In "When media is A.W.O.L. we all lose: A free press must be unwavering," Editorial, Lowell Sun, 17 November 2019.   ^{[ 1 ]}

 

Brittle Little cries, "From the sky are falling burning words!"
Brittle Little sighs, "Oh why," rallying brittle, little Nerds.
"Just a word can petrify, stinging us like flaming birds."
Such Brittle Littles typify lemming-like braying herds.
Brittle Littles all do cry. What is it them undergirds?

 

The mythological phoenix which burns to rise again from its ashes

 

Addendum of Protesting Covering a Protest: "Act on a Dream's petition calling on The Crimson to apologize and change its policies has garnered more than 1,000 signatures as of Sunday night. Fifteen student organizations including the Phillips Brooks House Association, Harvard College Democrats, and Harvard Graduate Students Union–United Automobile Workers have also signed on. Harvard's Undergraduate Council also passed a resolution on Nov. 10 in support of Act on a Dream's concerns about The Crimson's reporting policies." In "Group Protests The Crimson's Coverage of 'Abolish ICE' Rally," by Ruoqi Zhang, The Crimson, Harvard, 18 November 2019.

Addendum of Such Frailty: "The Crimson's own coverage of the vote points out that several campus groups, including both Act on a Dream and Harvard's chapter of the College Democrats, are refusing to speak to the paper until it bows to the demands. Time and time again, sources of institutional authority at Harvard have not simply failed to rebuke unreasonable demands from the campus's progressive sect but have actively sided with them." In "Student Government Votes to Support Activists Who Think The Harvard Crimson Shouldn't Even Quote ICE in Stories," by Robby Soave, Reason, 11 November 2019.    ^{[ 2 ]}

 

Addendum of the Power of Being a Lemming of Tomorrow:   "Education is not about reality at all, in the sense of what is objectively true. It is about political action. Its swindlers and their marks want power, not truth. And what power? Not the power of a liberally educated mind. It is the power rather of being a lemming of tomorrow: leading rather than following the lemmings tumbling over the brink." In "Education Is Not About Your ‘Lived Reality’," by Anthony Esolen, American Greatness, 19 November 2019.

 

Addendum of The Crimson Having Worried About Reality:   "Miller said that the average Harvard senior on financial aid will graduate between $15,000 and $20,000 in debt. According to the survey, the average undergraduate at a private college accumulates a debt of $17,500." In "Average Student's Debt Twice '91 Level," by Anne M. Stiles, The Crimson, Harvard, 29 October 1997.

 

Consider the rhyme, sourced addenda and footnotes which tell of this time when Doctor Oppression comes to call

 

NOTES   [ 1 ]    "Faith in integrity?"  At an "all time low?"  So is it reported:    ...a new poll released last week found that 47 percent of Americans believe it’s difficult to know whether the information they encounter is true. Just 31 percent find it easy. About 60 percent of Americans say they regularly see conflicting reports about the same set of facts from different sources, according to the poll, by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and USAFacts. 'Now more than ever, the lines between fact-based reporting and opinionated commentary seem blurred for people,' said Evette Alexander, research director at the Knight Foundation, which funds journalism and research. 'That means they trust what they are seeing less. They are feeling less informed'." In " 'No One Believes Anything': Voters Worn Out by a Fog of Political News," by Sabrina Tavernise and Aidan Gardiner, New York Times, 18 November 2019.          Were one to rewrite a sentence slightly, it would read "the lines between fact-based reporting and opinionated commentary seem are blurred for people."   The Demand to Bow to Demands            When students are "refusing to speak to the paper until it bows to the demands," then bowing to demands precedes "news."  There is a deep and pervasive postmodern irony in this, as the era, seemingly modern yet ever old, of Post-truth , in which politics becomes the arbiter of factual reporting and accurate portrayals.          When "journalism" does not conform to politics, then "to apologize and change its policies" is what journalism must do, per the very clear terms of the totalitarian who demands Everything within -- an original sin, and for one clear purpose, the gathering and exercise of power.          One sees Act on a Dream as an attempted exercise of political power, in which others are made to apologize, and said power's demands met. It is statistically interesting to note that about 1,000 signed a petition, out of a student body of over 30,000, or about three percent being the population of those demanding, and about 97 percent not.   The Narrative Manufactured            Writ large on a national scale, this demand to bow and the subsequent bowing by national media is being seen critically. One reads:  "The narrative manufactured by the security state agencies and laundered by their reliable media servants about these critical matters was a sham, a fraud, a lie." In "The Inspector General’s Report on 2016 FBI Spying Reveals a Scandal of Historic Magnitude: Not Only for the FBI but Also the U.S. Media," by Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept, 12 December 2019.          Whether at one university or across a nation, "braying herds" should not compromise accurate reporting in pursuit of plain truth.   [ 2 ]   The irony is rich. Demanding a journal and/or journalist bow to "demands" becomes a farce. Once bowed, is that journal or journalist anything but subservient to some seeking power over others? And then can it be trusted to report with balance and accuracy?          "Actively siding" with activism proposing one political view over another is, of course, open partisanship. Such will stoke divisions. Such also stokes distrust among many.   Trust Falls. Why Should It Not?            One reads of a loss of trust:   "Gallup began asking this question in 1972, and on a yearly basis since 1997. Over the history of the entire trend, Americans' trust and confidence hit its highest point in 1976, at 72%, in the wake of widely lauded examples of investigative journalism regarding Vietnam and the Watergate scandal. After staying in the low to mid-50s through the late 1990s and into the early years of the new century, Americans' trust in the media has fallen slowly and steadily. It has consistently been below a majority level since 2007." In "Americans' Trust in Mass Media Sinks to New Low," by Art Swift, Gallup, 14 September 2016.          The Gallup article -- for this too was another journalist's view -- observes causality. "With the explosion of the mass media in recent years, especially the prevalence of blogs, vlogs and social media, perhaps Americans decry lower standards for journalism. When opinion-driven writing becomes something like the norm, Americans may be wary of placing trust on the work of media institutions that have less rigorous reporting criteria than in the past."          Demands for "apology" and the requirement to "bow" to demands demonstrates such causality. A bowed and apologetic media reports nothing except their fear of power, other than their own. In such a way, if followed, basic Dissent is crushed, most usually in favor of those who would thereby acquire and maintain their power, each a demonstrable Totalitarian in the making.   An Unbecoming Example of Media Seeming to Bow            A humorous illustration of "bowing" is found.  "A Nov. 18 story headlined 'U.S. has world’s highest rate of children in detention -U.N. study' is withdrawn. The United Nations issued a statement on Nov. 19 saying the number was not current but was for the year 2015. No replacement story will be issued." In "Story on U.N. study on child detentions withdrawn," Reuters, Geneva, 18 November 2019.          The reported "world’s highest rate of children in detention," an assertion by a UN agency, occurred in the seventh year of the Obama administration. "No replacement story will be issued."  Would not the "world's highest rate of children in detention" still be a story worth reporting?  Apparently not.           Shall this example from Reuters teach the student journalists of Harvard and elsewhere how to bow at times?   Perhaps Another?            In the same weeks, one reads:  "The newspaper nixed a portion of its story that identified the lawyer as an FBI employee underneath Peter Strzok, the ousted FBI agent who worked on the feds' investigation into Russian election meddling, Fox News reported. The update was made just after midnight Friday without explanation." In "Washington Post quietly changes story on altered Russia probe," by Lia Eustachewich, New York Post, 22 November 2019.          As Gallup observed: "Americans may be wary of placing trust on the work of media institutions that have less rigorous reporting criteria than in the past."          Delete. Deny. Bow.

 

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Free is running out of cash

"Problem of the Commons (or Tragedy of the Commons) An example in game theory which is used to explore problems of resource distribution (see G. Hardin , 'The Tragedy of the Commons', Science, 1968). The use of commons (publicly available land on which farmers graze their cattle) becomes a problem when one such farmer reasons that he or she can expand his or her herd since this small addition to the total stock will contribute little harm to the available pasture. However, if other farmers reason likewise, these incremental additions to the stock using the land lead to overgrazing and thus the destruction of the resource itself. In other words, if each individual in this situation rationally pursues his or her own short-term interest while disregarding others similarly pursuing theirs, then the long-run consequence is that everyone loses their share in the collective resource." In "Problem of the Commons," Encylopedia.com, updated 11 November 2019.

 

Free is running out of cash;
Its funds are dwindling low,
Just at a most crucial time
When lines for free long grow.

Free is running out of cash,
For funding it's a chore.
All too many know the game
And cry aloud for more.

Free is running out of cash,
That problem of the commons.
All await its rescue
By economic shamans.

Free is running out of cash;
The end game is now known.
Once that final stage arrives,
The clever con is blown.

Free is running out of cash
For local trumps the whole.
Autonomy rears a defiant head,
After many stole.

Free is running out of cash,
So free is itself the fault.
Perhaps the offer of much free,
Like robbery, is assault.

 

Addendum of the Problem and Limitations:    "As resources become more limited, some argue, managing the commons may have neither a technical nor a political solution. This, indeed, may be the ultimate tragedy." In "Tragedy of the commons," by Margaret E. Banyan and André Munro, Britannica, 24 May 2014.   ^{[ 1 ]}
 

Addendum of a Solution Which Was and Still Is Always There:   "...Elinor Ostrom was also challenging the received wisdom in her field of political science. Starting with her thesis research on how a group of stakeholders in southern California cobbled together a system for managing their water table, and culminating in her worldwide study of common-pool resource (CPR) groups, the message of her work was that groups are capable of avoiding the tragedy of the commons without requiring top-down regulation, at least if certain conditions are met (Ostrom 1990, 2010). She summarized the conditions in the form of eight core design principles: 1) Clearly defined boundaries; 2) Proportional equivalence between benefits and costs; 3) Collective choice arrangements; 4) Monitoring; 5) Graduated sanctions; 6) Fast and fair conflict resolution; 7) Local autonomy; 8) Appropriate relations with other tiers of rule-making authority (polycentric governance). This work was so groundbreaking that Ostrom was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics in 2009." In "The Tragedy of the Commons: How Elinor Ostrom Solved One of Life’s Greatest Dilemmas," by David Sloan Wilson, Evonomics, 29 October 2016.   ^{[ 2 ]}

 

Addendum of Considering the Cost of Free:   "Good news for control freaks and nanny-staters across the U.S.: Americans' support for a bigger, more active government is edging up, potentially creating an opening for politicians and activists who want their countrymen to snuggle in the warm bosom of a nurturing state that provides an ever-greater variety of goods, services, and rules for people's lives. There's just one catch: Americans don't want to pay for it. Support for a big, muscular government falls off a cliff if it comes with a price tag." In "More Americans Want Bigger Government—If It's Free," by F. D. Tuccille, Reason, 25 November 2019.  ^{[ 3 ]}

 

Addendum of Free Wrapped With Taxes and Behavioral Modification:    " '[Some] say, well, 'taxes are regressive.' But in this case, yes they are, that's the good thing about them,' Bloomberg said at the IMF's 2018 Spring Meeting about taxes on sugary drinks and such. 'Because the problem is in people that don't have a lot of money. And so higher taxes should have a bigger impact on their behavior and how they deal with themselves'. In other words, Bloomberg wants to use taxes to make people behave in a way he thinks is best for them." In "Bloomberg: Taxing the Poor is Good Because They'll Have Less Money to Hurt Themselves," by Michael van der Galien, PJ Media, 28 November 2019.

 

Consider some tragic truths:   Free bees - nature's tale

 

NOTES   [ 1 ]    The notion that this "tragedy" may be the ultimate tragedy is an odd assertion. Postulating that the problem "may" intractable, using the modal auxiliary indicating prediction, is an assertion. That there "may" not be a political solution is de facto a critique of the very nature of Politics .           One could assert that the "tragedy" is rooted in how "free" works within the venal realm of politics. Ergo "Free is running out of cash, / So free is itself the fault./ Perhaps the offer of much free, / Like robbery, is assault.   [ 2 ]    One reads:  "Elinor Ostrom has challenged the conventional wisdom that common property is poorly managed and should be either regulated by central authorities or privatized. Based on numerous studies of user-managed fish stocks, pastures, woods, lakes, and groundwater basins, Ostrom concludes that the outcomes are, more often than not, better than predicted by standard theories. She observes that resource users frequently develop sophisticated mechanisms for decision-making and rule enforcement to handle conflicts of interest, and she characterizes the rules that promote successful outcomes." In "Press Release," The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2009, 12 October 2009.   Identifying the Inverse as Instruction             One only need invert the suggestions from Ostrom to ponder many modern problems. Such an inversion would clearly read: 1) Under-defined, amorphous and/or constantly changing boundaries; 2) Disproportional "equivalence" between benefits and costs; 3) Collective enforcement arrangements; 4) Absence of reporting results; 5) Immediate sanctions for some but no sanctions for others; 6) Plodding and unfair conflict resolution; 7) Rejection of local autonomy; 8) Inappropriate relations with other tiers of rule-making authority (central governance whenever possible).           The later two speak to many arguments found clustered alongside The Privileges of Intellectuals .           It seems that much of politics today plays according to the inverted rules, which, if the Ostrom rules would better a society, make for ever more complex social and economic problems. But this services the politicians, the politicized academics and the career "activists," does it not?           The economic and political theories will likely be washed away by demographic reality.  One reads of one example being seen across many nations:  "Europe's population of pensioners, already the largest in the world, continues to grow. Looking at Europeans 65 or older who aren’t working, there are 42 for every 100 workers, and this will rise to 65 per 100 by 2060, the European Union’s data agency says. By comparison, the U.S. has 24 nonworking people 65 or over per 100 workers, says the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which doesn’t have a projection for 2060." In "Europe Faces Pension Predicament, Mismatch of lifespans and birthrates means too few workers are paying into state pension plans," by Juliet Samuel, Wall Street Journal, 6 March 2016.           For such realities, looming in the near term, "successful outcomes" in individual lives as in individual nations will come down to "local autonomy" breaking the hold of government and "activist" theories on people and nations. This is the foreseeable future, and demographic reality is its calling card.   [ 3 ]    The article notes with irony:   "Whoops. 'A more active government would almost certainly result in higher taxes,' Gallup adds. 'However, relatively few Americans favor that approach… In the latest poll, 25% would opt for increased taxes and services, 32% want no change and 42% prefer smaller government.' Support for higher taxes to pay for expanded government is up a bit in the survey from years past, but it remains a distinctly minority taste. That means Americans are growing increasingly enthusiastic about placing orders for health care, higher education, housing, and more from the government—for free. But when they see prices on the menu, they balk, big time."           This well explains the seeming political divide between opposing sides. One side assets that more "free" can be "revenue neutral" as smart though partisan technocrats move budgetary numbers around. This is why governments, from the smallest jurisdictions to the national, are carrying massive Debt - you bet!           Opponents of such "free" advocates in the political world are aware -- and are becoming more aware -- that "free" is a political fantasy, as pro-debt politicians demand that a society declare almost Everything within -- an original sin. One who learns not from history will in time repeat historical blunders and, worse, historical horrors.   Unsuccessful outcomes will offer proof:  Who's gonna pull the welfare wagon - a Western poem