"Trump Officials Are Exploring Mass Arrests of US Mayors!"
Even idle chatter such as this is unnerving. If the Trump
administration attempted such action, in an effort to seat Emperor
Donald Trump on the new American Corporate Empire's Throne, either the
American People would rise up in Revolution, or the Empire would crush
any efforts to resist. Either way, the nation would be in total
disarray. It's hard to conceive of anyone being so arrogant as to
give the finger to the Constitution and the Laws of the Land. But
Donald Trump is doing exactly that. And the cheering fools who went
crazy at Donald Trump's state of his union address, wildly cheering
and slapping their hands every time he suggested another violation of
our democratic institution, seem prepared to follow their "Leader"
into the bowels of Hell.
Carl Jarvis/Dad/Grandpa
On 1/30/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
> Trump Officials Are Exploring Mass Arrests of US Mayors
> Tuesday, January 30, 2018
> By Ron Fein, Truthout | Op-Ed
>
> (Photo: filo / E+ / Getty Images)
>
> It's 4 am in New York. Federal agents in tactical gear confront the police
> department's mayoral security detail outside Manhattan's Gracie Mansion.
> After a tense standoff, the NYPD stands down and steps aside as the
> bedraggled mayor is removed in handcuffs. Across the nation, carefully
> coordinated pre-dawn raids sweep up the mayors of Boston, Chicago, San
> Francisco and Seattle, and the governor of California. Two hours later,
> President Trump tweets victory.
>
> Paranoid conspiracy thriller? Feverish dystopian fantasy? Hardly. This is a
> plan that the Trump administration is actively considering. On January 16,
> Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen told the Senate Judiciary
> Committee that, at her department's request, federal prosecutors are
> "reviewing what avenues might be available" to arrest and prosecute mayors
> of sanctuary cities for harboring unauthorized immigrants.
>
> Nielsen's testimony wasn't even the first time in January that the
> administration floated the idea of arresting mayors and governors. Two
> weeks
> earlier, Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thomas
> Homan
> told a Fox News host, "We gotta start charging some of these politicians
> with crimes."
>
> This is dangerous, dangerous talk.
>
> It's important to understand what a sanctuary city (or state) status means.
> While local policies vary and there is no universal definition of the term,
> in sanctuary cities, local police stick to enforcing local and state law,
> not federal immigration law. That frustrates federal authorities, but it's
> not obstruction, let alone nullification. Federal officers can still
> enforce
> federal immigration law. They just have to do it on their own.
>
> The question here is not whether sanctuary policies are wise. The question
> here is whether our constitutional democracy can survive mass roundups of
> mayors and governors for refusing to use local resources to help enforce
> federal immigration.
>
> To be sure, elected officials are not immune from the law. Many have spent
> time in the federal penitentiary for corruption. And elected officials who
> deliberately violate court orders can be subject to criminal contempt of
> court. For example, in the 1960s, Mississippi's governor was charged with
> criminal contempt for defying a court order to desegregate the University
> of
> Mississippi. And former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio was convicted for
> disobeying a court order to stop unconstitutional policing practices.
> (President Trump pardoned him, but that pardon is the subject of ongoing
> and
> potential future litigation.)
>
> It's possible that administration officials are performing elaborate
> theater
> for an audience of one -- the president. Trump himself often says "We're
> looking into it" as a way to dodge an awkward question.
>
> Or perhaps the Department of Justice chuckled at the request for criminal
> prosecution of mayors, but is considering narrower options to punish
> sanctuary cities. There aren't many, partly because most sanctuary policies
> don't even violate any federal statute. More importantly, as the late
> Justice Antonin Scalia explained in 1997, the Constitution prohibits the
> federal government from "commandeering" local law enforcement to enforce
> federal law. Even Congress's power to condition federal funds is limited;
> as
> Chief Justice John Roberts explained in 2012, Congress cannot use its
> spending power to "coerce" a state "to adopt a federal regulatory system as
> its own." That's partly why a federal judge issued a permanent injunction
> against Trump's earlier attempt to withhold federal funds from sanctuary
> cities.
>
> But let's not lose the forest for the trees: The United States government
> is
> contemplating a mass arrest of US mayors and governors for refusing to help
> the president's agenda.
>
> We've seen this before in other countries. Mass purges of dissident local
> officials are moves from Putin's Russia (if not Stalin's) or Erdoğan's
> Turkey. But nothing in our own history has prepared us for this moment.
>
> Is this a red flag for autocracy? Some take comfort in Trump's
> disorganization and distraction. On this theory, breaking the republic is a
> full-time job, not something you squeeze in between golf and live-tweeting
> morning television. But as longtime Putin critic Masha Gessen notes, the
> first rule for survival in an autocracy is to "believe the autocrat. He
> means what he says." And even if Trump himself doesn't know how to achieve
> his goals, the people running the president's immigration enforcement
> policy
> -- Secretary Nielsen, Acting Director Homan and, of course, Attorney
> General
> Jeff Sessions -- know what they are doing, and how to achieve what they and
> the president want.
>
> Maybe it won't happen. Maybe cooler heads will prevail. But we should
> reflect on the chilling fact that President Trump's handpicked appointees
> to
> run immigration enforcement openly discuss prosecuting the mayors of US
> cities. We must prepare for the day when the administration makes good on
> its threat.
>
> We may not get a second chance.
> Copyright, Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.
>
>
>
>
>
> Ron Fein
>
>
> Ron Fein is the legal director of Free Speech For People, a national
> nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that engages in legal advocacy to
> confront the misuse of the US Constitution.
>
>
> Related Stories
> States and Local Advocates Lead the Way for Criminal Legal System Reform
> By Jessicah Pierre, Inequality.org | News Analysis
> What Jeff Sessions' Latest Attack Means for the Future of Legal Marijuana
> By Mike Ludwig, Truthout | News Analysis
> Sessions Vows to Issue Subpoenas in Immigrant-Demonizing Inquest Against
> "Sanctuary Cities"
> By Sam Knight, The District Sentinel | Report
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Re: [acb-chat] Trump Is a Racist
Good Tuesday Morning, Bob and All who wait eagerly to hear Donald
Trump put his spin on how really wonderful he has made this really
great nation in only one short year! Really!
In fact Bob, you and I may agree on more areas than we disagree. You
wrote, "blind people need to, for the most part, adapt to the sighted
world rather than to expect/demand that
the sighted world adapt to the blindness world and to afford them
extensive accommodations."
It's my position that we all comprise the society in which we all
live. Old, young, male, female, tall, short, and any shade of black
to white. Most everyone has flaws in their makeup. Superman and
Wonder Woman only exist in the comic books.
Certainly how each of us succeed is dependent upon our own individual
makeup. But to at least an equal extent, how society(all of us)looks
at group differences will determine how big the road blocks are, in
our efforts to succeed.
And so far as accommodations are concerned, the fewer the better. For
example, while we use dog guides and travel canes today, many of us
blind people went out and about for generations prior to these
accommodations. As I look about my office, the devices I use today
did not exist when I attended the Adult Training Program back in 1965.
But I used the available accommodations back when I attended the
University of Washington armed with a slate and stylus and a five inch
reel to reel tape recorder.
And the "old timers" gave me a hard time because they did not have the
benefit of tape recorders when they attended college.
You stated, "The sighted world has many stereotypical attitudes about blind
people. One must ask: why is this? Perhaps, it is due to the way
that many blind people conduct themselves via mannerism and/or their
attitudes of expecting accommodations..." This is one of those areas
in which we differ. Why not as easily suggest that the blind people
are simply responding to the societal expectations? When I was young,
the Negroes I met, mostly shuffled and looked down at their feet and
smiled with big white teeth and said, "Yasuh", and "Nos uh". Did they
"create" this stereotype? Or did they use society's stereotype to
shield themselves?
When I visited some friends, inside the privacy of their homes, they
were very different people. And in their Black Churches, they began
Movements that led to leaders like Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior.
I believe that it is important to recognize the "blindness
stereotypes". We need to understand them if we are going to challenge
them, and eliminate them. Simply dismissing them by saying that blind
people have brought them down on themselves is not going to change
anything.
We are members of a small, almost invisible group. Telling folks who
discriminate against us that we are really bright, capable and
industrious people, will certainly have some impact, but it will be
generations before the "helpless, pitiful" label is removed.
You also wrote, "...I
contend that if one is qualified and presents themselves effectively,
they will have an opportunity for employment. That is not to say that
one may not have to have superior skills or more effective
presentation skills over his sighted competitor to achieve his
objective. If you want to call that discrimination, that is your
choice. I prefer to call it reality."
Reality or discrimination, examples are overwhelming as to how
disabling social attitudes can be. A friend of mine, a young Black
woman, also has Albinism. With African features, White skin, and
being a Woman, she has had many barriers placed in her road to
success. For 8 years she applied to teach in the Seattle Public
Schools. For 8 years she was turned down, even though she had been
fully employed in a private school, even though she had graduated at
the top of her class, and even though she was hired by the Office of
the Superintendent of Public Instruction(SPI)to teach teachers during
summer schools. She was elected secretary of the American Council of
the Blind, 3 times. As personable and as bright as you could imagine,
it took 8 years before Seattle finally came around to giving her a
chance.
This is hard core discrimination. This woman had her life put on hold
for 8 years because Society could not see beyond its collective
stereotype.
And added to our collective attitudes is our tendency to blame the
victims. "If only you were not so thin skinned. If you just tried
harder. If you didn't go about expecting others to take care of you".
Over and over we blame the victims for behaving exactly the way we
expect them to behave. How do you expect them to change, when all of
their lives they have understood that this is how blind people behave?
Do you think that everybody is as skilled as you? The fact that you
and I have a measure of independence applies only to our lives and
successes. Of course we might offer our successes in educating other
blind people, and in our efforts to put a dent in the general blind
stereotype.
And so, for this exciting day when we will get told how truly great
Donald Trump is, I remain, with my glass brim full of hope,
Carl Jarvis
On 1/23/18, Bob <buildyourownwealth@gmail.com> wrote:
> Good Morning Carl:
>
> In response to your most recent correspondence, I have the following
> observations/comments/opinions:
> *. Although I was 14 years old when my parents died and I was
> left primarily alone to fend for myself, they, fortunately for me,
> instilled in me that my blindness was an inconvenience for me to be
> overcome rather than a handicap. This has been my philosophy for my
> entire life. Therefore, I reject your premise that blind people need
> an island of protection. In my opinion, blind people need to for the
> most part adapt to the sighted world rather than to expect/demand that
> the sighted world adapt to the blindness world and to afford them
> extensive accommodations.
> *. The sighted world has many stereotypical attitudes about blind
> people. One must ask: why is this? Perhaps, it is due to the way
> that many blind people conduct themselves via mannerism and/or their
> attitudes of expecting accommodations. If you are always asking for
> assistance or accommodations, the public quickly perceives that blind
> people are unable to care for themselves or be productive citizens.
> *. Honestly, I don't remember ever stating that I had not
> encountered discrimination. Prior to my starting my own consulting
> company, I had positions ranging from a programmer to a vice president
> of product development for several different private sector companies.
> Yes, I have encountered what you would call discrimination along the
> way. However, I choose to call it a lack of education by the
> discriminator and accept it as my responsibility to inform them
> concerning their stereotypical attitudes. However, There is a thin
> line between discrimination, not being qualified/a good match for the
> position, or having someone more qualified for the position. If one
> is a hyper sensitive blind person and always expecting accommodation
> or preferential treatment, it is easy to claim discrimination. I
> contend that if one is qualified and presents themselves effectively,
> they will have an opportunity for employment. That is not to say that
> one may not have to have superior skills or more effective
> presentation skills over his sighted competitor to achieve his
> objective. If you want to call that discrimination, that is your
> choice. I prefer to call it reality.
> *. Again, I don't agree with you that discrimination against
> blind people is as prevalent as it has always been. It amazes me that
> you seem to always take the "glass half empty" perspective in many of
> our exchanges. Embrace the progress that has been made and build on
> that progress rather than focusing on the negative. No matter what
> the issue, things can always be better/improved.
> *. To clarify, When using the term special in our discussion, I
> am referring to expecting preferential treatment because you are
> blind. I view your description of yourself as your uniqueness. Like
> a snowflake, everyone is unique.
> *. You are correct: in my humble opinion, I did not put Brian or
> for that matter, you down. Apparently, Brian did not take issue with
> my comments as he never responded. Perhaps, you are just
> over-sensitive. To set the record straight, my comments are always
> directed at your ideas or attitudes. If you take things personally,
> that is your burden, not mine. If philosophies did not differ, there
> would be no purpose for this list.
> *. You have commented several times relative to our supposed
> economic difference. That's irrelevant. What is important is that we
> both have achieved a measure of success.
> *. You state the ongoing oppression of blind people. In my
> opinion, blind people oppress themselves via their mannerism,
> behavior, attitudes, educational choices, and accepting comments by
> you and others that they are oppressed. Mindset is a wonderful thing.
> *. Correct me if I am wrong, it appears that you take these
> exchanges off the list and interact with me directly. If so, why?
> In conclusion, perhaps it is our philosophical approach that creates
> such dissention in our exchanges. Whereas I support decentralized
> government, freedom of choice, equal opportunity for all, success
> based upon your ability to produce/perform, etc, it seems to me (not
> wanting to label you) that you support a nanny state and equal
> rights/benefits for all no matter what their motivation level or
> capability set may be.
> Have a great day.
>
> Bob Clark
>
> On 1/22/18, Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Bob,
>> Although the ACB chat list is for a wide range of topics, it is still
>> populated mostly by blind people. Because of the list makeup, any
>> topic discussed can be looked at in how it impacts attitudes about
>> blindness.
>> I constantly try to express the need for people on this list to think
>> about how we can alter prevailing attitudes that are impacting
>> opportunities for blind people. I said, "...I am very sensitive to
>> the need for connection and
>> understanding and eventual agreement, if we are going to create a
>> small Island of Protection for those blind people in the future."
>> Since you indicate that you have never faced discrimination, and
>> since I accept that you believe that, I am not addressing you. But
>> over many years of work for and with the blind, I can say with both
>> assurance and with proof that discrimination through negative
>> attitudes, is as prevalent today as it ever was.
>> You ask if I'm more or less special because I'm blind, and you say
>> that your blindness is irrelevant to your perspective of political
>> issues.
>> So first, I am blind, and that is one part of who I am. As much a
>> part as my being male, white, 82, 6 feet 3 inches, 250 pounds, left
>> handed, married, a father, a grand father, a great grandfather, an
>> American, a Free Thinker unencumbered by political labels, a resident
>> of the Great Olympic Peninsula, and on and on and on. In all of that,
>> I am special. I look around me and find no one else exactly like me.
>> They say we all have a double somewhere, but I've not bumped into me
>> yet. But in being special, I accept that each person I meet is also
>> special. And each special person, as I view you, should be given my
>> respect. I respectfully say that I felt you put Brian down in your
>> recent post. You probably do not feel that way. But you have done
>> the same to me in past posts.
>> Anyway, we special people, despite our individuality, do need to
>> discuss how blindness impacts our lives, and what we can do
>> collectively, to improve opportunities for those blind people coming
>> behind us.
>> While I am not as economically successful as are you, nonetheless, you
>> and I have managed to find success in a system that is very oppressive
>> for the majority of blind people. In my world, I believe that it is
>> our responsibility to share with others how we "worked" the system and
>> came out on top.
>> I am a strong promoter of Group Dynamics. While some individuals
>> succeed, they leave little behind them. Many minds create change.
>> So...that's more than too much for one day.
>> Enjoy your success, and I certainly will enjoy mine.
>>
>> Carl Jarvis
>>
>>
>> On 1/22/18, Bob <buildyourownwealth@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Carl:
>>>
>>> First of all, what does blindness have to do with this discussion?
>>> Are you more special or less special because you are blind? Another
>>> opinion: your blindness is irrelevant unless you wish to make it
>>> relevant in these discussions. To me, my blindness is irrelevant and
>>> has nothing to do with my perspective of political issues.
>>> Secondly, what is the difference between you stating your opinions
>>> and I statinbg my opinions? Carl, some of your opinions are just as
>>> objectionable to me as mine are to you.
>>> Have a great day.
>>>
>>> Bob Clark
>>>
>>> On 1/21/18, Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Bob Clark wrote to Brian: "Trump is not a racist. It is obvious that
>>>> you parrot the
>>>> progressive/leftist press and other leftist groups."
>>>> At least I guess Bob was addressing you, Brian. So consider yourself
>>>> chastised and put in your little box.
>>>> What we are looking at, in Bob's remarks is the same approach being
>>>> taken by one nauseating politician after another. "Put down" politics
>>>> may make the 5:00 PM. news, but it says more about the speaker than it
>>>> says about the person being put down.
>>>> So Brian, I say this just to make it clear that whether we agree or
>>>> not, I respect your opinions, and I believe them to be yours.
>>>> Suggesting that a person is simply parroting a line of propaganda is a
>>>> show of contempt. While I disagree with Bob Clark, I have great
>>>> respect for his opinions...wrong as they may be...and believe them to
>>>> be thoughtful conclusions derived through observation and personal
>>>> experience. I feel the same toward you, so Brian, keep your opinions
>>>> coming. When enough of us do this, we will begin to find areas of
>>>> agreement from which to build. As a blind man, and an older blind man
>>>> at that, I am very sensitive to the need for connection and
>>>> understanding and eventual agreement, if we are going to create a
>>>> small Island of Protection for those blind people in the future.
>>>>
>>>> Carl Jarvis
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 1/21/18, Bob via acb-chat <acb-chat@acblists.org> wrote:
>>>>> Hello:
>>>>>
>>>>> Although Trump is certainly not a politically correct individual,
>>>>> Trump is not a racist. It is obvious that you parrot the
>>>>> progressive/leftist press and other leftist groups.
>>>>> I guess that you categorize him as racist because he will not deal
>>>>> with the Dacha issue until a continuing resolution is passed.
>>>>> Democrats have shut-down the government over illegal immigrantrs in
>>>>> contrast to supporting the military and the chip program. How many
>>>>> children on the chip program are minorities? I would guess a
>>>>> significant number. Bottom line, Democrats are obstructionist.
>>>>> Have a great day.
>>>>>
>>>>> Bob Clark
>>>>>
>>>>> On 1/21/18, Brian K. Lingard via acb-chat <acb-chat@acblists.org>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>> Ottawa Canada
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Dear Bob & List:
>>>>>> Trump is not the worst person since the Jim Crow era.
>>>>>> He is the worst since the Simon Legree era!
>>>>>> Brian
>>>>>> Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2018 11:51 AM
>>>>>> To: General discussion list for ACB members and friends where a wide
>>>>>> range
>>>>>> of topics from blindness to politics, issues of the day or whatever
>>>>>> comes
>>>>>> to
>>>>>> mind are welcome. This is a free form discussion list.
>>>>>> <acb-chat@acblists.org>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>> IF you asked me this question one year ago, I would have said that
>>>>>> while
>>>>>> Trump said some horrible things regarding those who are not white, I
>>>>>> am
>>>>>> not
>>>>>> ready to label him a racist. Well, after one year of his presidency I
>>>>>> am
>>>>>> now
>>>>>> ready to label him as such. Just take a quick look at the mounting
>>>>>> evidence.
>>>>>> Bob Hachey
>>>>>> The racist in the White House by Renée Graham. By Renée Graham Globe
>>>>>> Columnist. In his first speech as a presidential candidate in 2015,
>>>>>> Donald
>>>>>> Trump declared that Mexican immigrants entering the United States are
>>>>>> "bringing crime. They are rapists. In addition, some, I assume, are
>>>>>> good
>>>>>> people. This was not a dog whistle. This was a bullhorn. There was
>>>>>> never
>>>>>> a
>>>>>> reason to believe that such inflammatory rhetoric was just a campaign
>>>>>> tactic
>>>>>> to attract a certain rabid demographic. Alternatively, that Trump,
>>>>>> once
>>>>>> he
>>>>>> entered the White House, would temper the racism he has openly
>>>>>> displayed
>>>>>> throughout his public life. Trump's presidency has emboldened white
>>>>>> supremacists. When a neo-Nazi sympathizer at a racist rally in
>>>>>> Charlottesville, Va., allegedly rammed his car into a crowd of
>>>>>> counter
>>>>>> protesters, killing a woman, Trump claimed "many sides" were to
>>>>>> blame.
>>>>>> That
>>>>>> earned him wide condemnation - but also praise from former Klan Grand
>>>>>> Wizard
>>>>>> David Duke. At a press conference later, Trump was still propping up
>>>>>> racists, saying that at the rally there were "very fine people" on
>>>>>> both
>>>>>> sides. Again, white supremacists applauded their man in the White
>>>>>> House.
>>>>>> Trump profanely suggested firing NFL players - the majority of them
>>>>>> black
>>>>>> -
>>>>>> for kneeling during the national anthem as a protest against racial
>>>>>> injustice; he pushed for a black ESPN anchor to be let go for calling
>>>>>> him
>>>>>> "a
>>>>>> white supremacist"; he publicly argued with a black congresswoman
>>>>>> representing the family of a young African-American soldier killed in
>>>>>> Niger
>>>>>> over his brusque comments during a condolence call to the soldier's
>>>>>> widow.
>>>>>> Then, asked to consider restoring protections for immigrants from
>>>>>> Haiti,
>>>>>> El
>>>>>> Salvador, and African nations, he referred to them as "shithole
>>>>>> countries.
>>>>>> Make America Great Again was always a thinly veiled way of saying
>>>>>> "Make
>>>>>> America White Again. From his Muslim travel ban to his stated wish
>>>>>> for
>>>>>> more
>>>>>> Norwegian immigrants, Trump has sliced open old racial wounds and
>>>>>> inflicted
>>>>>> new, deeper ones. Trump is the worst thing to happen to American race
>>>>>> relations since the Jim Crow era. Renée Graham can be reached at
>>>>>> renee.graham@globe.com <mailto:renee.graham@globe.com> . Follow her
>>>>>> on
>>>>>> Twitter @reneeygraham.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> YOUR HEALTH IS YOUR MOST IMPORTANT PERSONAL ASSET!!!
>>>>> TAKE THE CHALLENGE AT:
>>>>> HTTP://BOB-CLARK.COM
>>>>> Telephone: 800-345-9760
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> acb-chat mailing list
>>>>> acb-chat@acblists.org
>>>>> http://www.acblists.org/mailman/listinfo/acb-chat
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> YOUR HEALTH IS YOUR MOST IMPORTANT PERSONAL ASSET!!!
>>> TAKE THE CHALLENGE AT:
>>> HTTP://BOB-CLARK.COM
>>> Telephone: 800-345-9760
>>>
>>
>
>
> --
> YOUR HEALTH IS YOUR MOST IMPORTANT PERSONAL ASSET!!!
> TAKE THE CHALLENGE AT:
> HTTP://BOB-CLARK.COM
> Telephone: 800-345-9760
>
Trump put his spin on how really wonderful he has made this really
great nation in only one short year! Really!
In fact Bob, you and I may agree on more areas than we disagree. You
wrote, "blind people need to, for the most part, adapt to the sighted
world rather than to expect/demand that
the sighted world adapt to the blindness world and to afford them
extensive accommodations."
It's my position that we all comprise the society in which we all
live. Old, young, male, female, tall, short, and any shade of black
to white. Most everyone has flaws in their makeup. Superman and
Wonder Woman only exist in the comic books.
Certainly how each of us succeed is dependent upon our own individual
makeup. But to at least an equal extent, how society(all of us)looks
at group differences will determine how big the road blocks are, in
our efforts to succeed.
And so far as accommodations are concerned, the fewer the better. For
example, while we use dog guides and travel canes today, many of us
blind people went out and about for generations prior to these
accommodations. As I look about my office, the devices I use today
did not exist when I attended the Adult Training Program back in 1965.
But I used the available accommodations back when I attended the
University of Washington armed with a slate and stylus and a five inch
reel to reel tape recorder.
And the "old timers" gave me a hard time because they did not have the
benefit of tape recorders when they attended college.
You stated, "The sighted world has many stereotypical attitudes about blind
people. One must ask: why is this? Perhaps, it is due to the way
that many blind people conduct themselves via mannerism and/or their
attitudes of expecting accommodations..." This is one of those areas
in which we differ. Why not as easily suggest that the blind people
are simply responding to the societal expectations? When I was young,
the Negroes I met, mostly shuffled and looked down at their feet and
smiled with big white teeth and said, "Yasuh", and "Nos uh". Did they
"create" this stereotype? Or did they use society's stereotype to
shield themselves?
When I visited some friends, inside the privacy of their homes, they
were very different people. And in their Black Churches, they began
Movements that led to leaders like Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior.
I believe that it is important to recognize the "blindness
stereotypes". We need to understand them if we are going to challenge
them, and eliminate them. Simply dismissing them by saying that blind
people have brought them down on themselves is not going to change
anything.
We are members of a small, almost invisible group. Telling folks who
discriminate against us that we are really bright, capable and
industrious people, will certainly have some impact, but it will be
generations before the "helpless, pitiful" label is removed.
You also wrote, "...I
contend that if one is qualified and presents themselves effectively,
they will have an opportunity for employment. That is not to say that
one may not have to have superior skills or more effective
presentation skills over his sighted competitor to achieve his
objective. If you want to call that discrimination, that is your
choice. I prefer to call it reality."
Reality or discrimination, examples are overwhelming as to how
disabling social attitudes can be. A friend of mine, a young Black
woman, also has Albinism. With African features, White skin, and
being a Woman, she has had many barriers placed in her road to
success. For 8 years she applied to teach in the Seattle Public
Schools. For 8 years she was turned down, even though she had been
fully employed in a private school, even though she had graduated at
the top of her class, and even though she was hired by the Office of
the Superintendent of Public Instruction(SPI)to teach teachers during
summer schools. She was elected secretary of the American Council of
the Blind, 3 times. As personable and as bright as you could imagine,
it took 8 years before Seattle finally came around to giving her a
chance.
This is hard core discrimination. This woman had her life put on hold
for 8 years because Society could not see beyond its collective
stereotype.
And added to our collective attitudes is our tendency to blame the
victims. "If only you were not so thin skinned. If you just tried
harder. If you didn't go about expecting others to take care of you".
Over and over we blame the victims for behaving exactly the way we
expect them to behave. How do you expect them to change, when all of
their lives they have understood that this is how blind people behave?
Do you think that everybody is as skilled as you? The fact that you
and I have a measure of independence applies only to our lives and
successes. Of course we might offer our successes in educating other
blind people, and in our efforts to put a dent in the general blind
stereotype.
And so, for this exciting day when we will get told how truly great
Donald Trump is, I remain, with my glass brim full of hope,
Carl Jarvis
On 1/23/18, Bob <buildyourownwealth@gmail.com> wrote:
> Good Morning Carl:
>
> In response to your most recent correspondence, I have the following
> observations/comments/opinions:
> *. Although I was 14 years old when my parents died and I was
> left primarily alone to fend for myself, they, fortunately for me,
> instilled in me that my blindness was an inconvenience for me to be
> overcome rather than a handicap. This has been my philosophy for my
> entire life. Therefore, I reject your premise that blind people need
> an island of protection. In my opinion, blind people need to for the
> most part adapt to the sighted world rather than to expect/demand that
> the sighted world adapt to the blindness world and to afford them
> extensive accommodations.
> *. The sighted world has many stereotypical attitudes about blind
> people. One must ask: why is this? Perhaps, it is due to the way
> that many blind people conduct themselves via mannerism and/or their
> attitudes of expecting accommodations. If you are always asking for
> assistance or accommodations, the public quickly perceives that blind
> people are unable to care for themselves or be productive citizens.
> *. Honestly, I don't remember ever stating that I had not
> encountered discrimination. Prior to my starting my own consulting
> company, I had positions ranging from a programmer to a vice president
> of product development for several different private sector companies.
> Yes, I have encountered what you would call discrimination along the
> way. However, I choose to call it a lack of education by the
> discriminator and accept it as my responsibility to inform them
> concerning their stereotypical attitudes. However, There is a thin
> line between discrimination, not being qualified/a good match for the
> position, or having someone more qualified for the position. If one
> is a hyper sensitive blind person and always expecting accommodation
> or preferential treatment, it is easy to claim discrimination. I
> contend that if one is qualified and presents themselves effectively,
> they will have an opportunity for employment. That is not to say that
> one may not have to have superior skills or more effective
> presentation skills over his sighted competitor to achieve his
> objective. If you want to call that discrimination, that is your
> choice. I prefer to call it reality.
> *. Again, I don't agree with you that discrimination against
> blind people is as prevalent as it has always been. It amazes me that
> you seem to always take the "glass half empty" perspective in many of
> our exchanges. Embrace the progress that has been made and build on
> that progress rather than focusing on the negative. No matter what
> the issue, things can always be better/improved.
> *. To clarify, When using the term special in our discussion, I
> am referring to expecting preferential treatment because you are
> blind. I view your description of yourself as your uniqueness. Like
> a snowflake, everyone is unique.
> *. You are correct: in my humble opinion, I did not put Brian or
> for that matter, you down. Apparently, Brian did not take issue with
> my comments as he never responded. Perhaps, you are just
> over-sensitive. To set the record straight, my comments are always
> directed at your ideas or attitudes. If you take things personally,
> that is your burden, not mine. If philosophies did not differ, there
> would be no purpose for this list.
> *. You have commented several times relative to our supposed
> economic difference. That's irrelevant. What is important is that we
> both have achieved a measure of success.
> *. You state the ongoing oppression of blind people. In my
> opinion, blind people oppress themselves via their mannerism,
> behavior, attitudes, educational choices, and accepting comments by
> you and others that they are oppressed. Mindset is a wonderful thing.
> *. Correct me if I am wrong, it appears that you take these
> exchanges off the list and interact with me directly. If so, why?
> In conclusion, perhaps it is our philosophical approach that creates
> such dissention in our exchanges. Whereas I support decentralized
> government, freedom of choice, equal opportunity for all, success
> based upon your ability to produce/perform, etc, it seems to me (not
> wanting to label you) that you support a nanny state and equal
> rights/benefits for all no matter what their motivation level or
> capability set may be.
> Have a great day.
>
> Bob Clark
>
> On 1/22/18, Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Bob,
>> Although the ACB chat list is for a wide range of topics, it is still
>> populated mostly by blind people. Because of the list makeup, any
>> topic discussed can be looked at in how it impacts attitudes about
>> blindness.
>> I constantly try to express the need for people on this list to think
>> about how we can alter prevailing attitudes that are impacting
>> opportunities for blind people. I said, "...I am very sensitive to
>> the need for connection and
>> understanding and eventual agreement, if we are going to create a
>> small Island of Protection for those blind people in the future."
>> Since you indicate that you have never faced discrimination, and
>> since I accept that you believe that, I am not addressing you. But
>> over many years of work for and with the blind, I can say with both
>> assurance and with proof that discrimination through negative
>> attitudes, is as prevalent today as it ever was.
>> You ask if I'm more or less special because I'm blind, and you say
>> that your blindness is irrelevant to your perspective of political
>> issues.
>> So first, I am blind, and that is one part of who I am. As much a
>> part as my being male, white, 82, 6 feet 3 inches, 250 pounds, left
>> handed, married, a father, a grand father, a great grandfather, an
>> American, a Free Thinker unencumbered by political labels, a resident
>> of the Great Olympic Peninsula, and on and on and on. In all of that,
>> I am special. I look around me and find no one else exactly like me.
>> They say we all have a double somewhere, but I've not bumped into me
>> yet. But in being special, I accept that each person I meet is also
>> special. And each special person, as I view you, should be given my
>> respect. I respectfully say that I felt you put Brian down in your
>> recent post. You probably do not feel that way. But you have done
>> the same to me in past posts.
>> Anyway, we special people, despite our individuality, do need to
>> discuss how blindness impacts our lives, and what we can do
>> collectively, to improve opportunities for those blind people coming
>> behind us.
>> While I am not as economically successful as are you, nonetheless, you
>> and I have managed to find success in a system that is very oppressive
>> for the majority of blind people. In my world, I believe that it is
>> our responsibility to share with others how we "worked" the system and
>> came out on top.
>> I am a strong promoter of Group Dynamics. While some individuals
>> succeed, they leave little behind them. Many minds create change.
>> So...that's more than too much for one day.
>> Enjoy your success, and I certainly will enjoy mine.
>>
>> Carl Jarvis
>>
>>
>> On 1/22/18, Bob <buildyourownwealth@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Carl:
>>>
>>> First of all, what does blindness have to do with this discussion?
>>> Are you more special or less special because you are blind? Another
>>> opinion: your blindness is irrelevant unless you wish to make it
>>> relevant in these discussions. To me, my blindness is irrelevant and
>>> has nothing to do with my perspective of political issues.
>>> Secondly, what is the difference between you stating your opinions
>>> and I statinbg my opinions? Carl, some of your opinions are just as
>>> objectionable to me as mine are to you.
>>> Have a great day.
>>>
>>> Bob Clark
>>>
>>> On 1/21/18, Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Bob Clark wrote to Brian: "Trump is not a racist. It is obvious that
>>>> you parrot the
>>>> progressive/leftist press and other leftist groups."
>>>> At least I guess Bob was addressing you, Brian. So consider yourself
>>>> chastised and put in your little box.
>>>> What we are looking at, in Bob's remarks is the same approach being
>>>> taken by one nauseating politician after another. "Put down" politics
>>>> may make the 5:00 PM. news, but it says more about the speaker than it
>>>> says about the person being put down.
>>>> So Brian, I say this just to make it clear that whether we agree or
>>>> not, I respect your opinions, and I believe them to be yours.
>>>> Suggesting that a person is simply parroting a line of propaganda is a
>>>> show of contempt. While I disagree with Bob Clark, I have great
>>>> respect for his opinions...wrong as they may be...and believe them to
>>>> be thoughtful conclusions derived through observation and personal
>>>> experience. I feel the same toward you, so Brian, keep your opinions
>>>> coming. When enough of us do this, we will begin to find areas of
>>>> agreement from which to build. As a blind man, and an older blind man
>>>> at that, I am very sensitive to the need for connection and
>>>> understanding and eventual agreement, if we are going to create a
>>>> small Island of Protection for those blind people in the future.
>>>>
>>>> Carl Jarvis
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 1/21/18, Bob via acb-chat <acb-chat@acblists.org> wrote:
>>>>> Hello:
>>>>>
>>>>> Although Trump is certainly not a politically correct individual,
>>>>> Trump is not a racist. It is obvious that you parrot the
>>>>> progressive/leftist press and other leftist groups.
>>>>> I guess that you categorize him as racist because he will not deal
>>>>> with the Dacha issue until a continuing resolution is passed.
>>>>> Democrats have shut-down the government over illegal immigrantrs in
>>>>> contrast to supporting the military and the chip program. How many
>>>>> children on the chip program are minorities? I would guess a
>>>>> significant number. Bottom line, Democrats are obstructionist.
>>>>> Have a great day.
>>>>>
>>>>> Bob Clark
>>>>>
>>>>> On 1/21/18, Brian K. Lingard via acb-chat <acb-chat@acblists.org>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>> Ottawa Canada
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Dear Bob & List:
>>>>>> Trump is not the worst person since the Jim Crow era.
>>>>>> He is the worst since the Simon Legree era!
>>>>>> Brian
>>>>>> Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2018 11:51 AM
>>>>>> To: General discussion list for ACB members and friends where a wide
>>>>>> range
>>>>>> of topics from blindness to politics, issues of the day or whatever
>>>>>> comes
>>>>>> to
>>>>>> mind are welcome. This is a free form discussion list.
>>>>>> <acb-chat@acblists.org>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>> IF you asked me this question one year ago, I would have said that
>>>>>> while
>>>>>> Trump said some horrible things regarding those who are not white, I
>>>>>> am
>>>>>> not
>>>>>> ready to label him a racist. Well, after one year of his presidency I
>>>>>> am
>>>>>> now
>>>>>> ready to label him as such. Just take a quick look at the mounting
>>>>>> evidence.
>>>>>> Bob Hachey
>>>>>> The racist in the White House by Renée Graham. By Renée Graham Globe
>>>>>> Columnist. In his first speech as a presidential candidate in 2015,
>>>>>> Donald
>>>>>> Trump declared that Mexican immigrants entering the United States are
>>>>>> "bringing crime. They are rapists. In addition, some, I assume, are
>>>>>> good
>>>>>> people. This was not a dog whistle. This was a bullhorn. There was
>>>>>> never
>>>>>> a
>>>>>> reason to believe that such inflammatory rhetoric was just a campaign
>>>>>> tactic
>>>>>> to attract a certain rabid demographic. Alternatively, that Trump,
>>>>>> once
>>>>>> he
>>>>>> entered the White House, would temper the racism he has openly
>>>>>> displayed
>>>>>> throughout his public life. Trump's presidency has emboldened white
>>>>>> supremacists. When a neo-Nazi sympathizer at a racist rally in
>>>>>> Charlottesville, Va., allegedly rammed his car into a crowd of
>>>>>> counter
>>>>>> protesters, killing a woman, Trump claimed "many sides" were to
>>>>>> blame.
>>>>>> That
>>>>>> earned him wide condemnation - but also praise from former Klan Grand
>>>>>> Wizard
>>>>>> David Duke. At a press conference later, Trump was still propping up
>>>>>> racists, saying that at the rally there were "very fine people" on
>>>>>> both
>>>>>> sides. Again, white supremacists applauded their man in the White
>>>>>> House.
>>>>>> Trump profanely suggested firing NFL players - the majority of them
>>>>>> black
>>>>>> -
>>>>>> for kneeling during the national anthem as a protest against racial
>>>>>> injustice; he pushed for a black ESPN anchor to be let go for calling
>>>>>> him
>>>>>> "a
>>>>>> white supremacist"; he publicly argued with a black congresswoman
>>>>>> representing the family of a young African-American soldier killed in
>>>>>> Niger
>>>>>> over his brusque comments during a condolence call to the soldier's
>>>>>> widow.
>>>>>> Then, asked to consider restoring protections for immigrants from
>>>>>> Haiti,
>>>>>> El
>>>>>> Salvador, and African nations, he referred to them as "shithole
>>>>>> countries.
>>>>>> Make America Great Again was always a thinly veiled way of saying
>>>>>> "Make
>>>>>> America White Again. From his Muslim travel ban to his stated wish
>>>>>> for
>>>>>> more
>>>>>> Norwegian immigrants, Trump has sliced open old racial wounds and
>>>>>> inflicted
>>>>>> new, deeper ones. Trump is the worst thing to happen to American race
>>>>>> relations since the Jim Crow era. Renée Graham can be reached at
>>>>>> renee.graham@globe.com <mailto:renee.graham@globe.com> . Follow her
>>>>>> on
>>>>>> Twitter @reneeygraham.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> YOUR HEALTH IS YOUR MOST IMPORTANT PERSONAL ASSET!!!
>>>>> TAKE THE CHALLENGE AT:
>>>>> HTTP://BOB-CLARK.COM
>>>>> Telephone: 800-345-9760
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> acb-chat mailing list
>>>>> acb-chat@acblists.org
>>>>> http://www.acblists.org/mailman/listinfo/acb-chat
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> YOUR HEALTH IS YOUR MOST IMPORTANT PERSONAL ASSET!!!
>>> TAKE THE CHALLENGE AT:
>>> HTTP://BOB-CLARK.COM
>>> Telephone: 800-345-9760
>>>
>>
>
>
> --
> YOUR HEALTH IS YOUR MOST IMPORTANT PERSONAL ASSET!!!
> TAKE THE CHALLENGE AT:
> HTTP://BOB-CLARK.COM
> Telephone: 800-345-9760
>
Re: [acb-chat] Thoughts from a teleconference
On 1/30/18, Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Carl Jarvis via acb-chat <acb-chat@acblists.org>
> Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2018 05:34:14 +0000
> Subject: [acb-chat] Thoughts from a teleconference
> To: "General discussion list for ACB members and friends where a wide
> range of topics from blindness to politics, issues of the day or
> whatever comes to mind are welcome. This is a free form discussion
> list." <acb-chat@acblists.org>
> Cc: Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com>
>
> We spent this morning on a teleconference with some folks from
> Mississippi State. The purpose of this gathering was to poke around
> at our Older Blind Program here in Washington State, and determine if
> our services are meeting the needs of our clients--how to improve
> them--determine if we are still on target--find ways of providing much
> needed training for our new RT's--and do all of this while looking for
> ways to cut budget a bit. Naturally our first suggestions were that
> the program must find more dollars if it is to meet any of its goals.
> But that's how these sorts of things go. Anyway, in my casting about
> for some materials that would make our case, I ran across an article I
> wrote a few years back, talking about how it is so easy to develop
> certain methods of training, and then stuff clients into this one
> mold, rather than developing training that is specific to each
> person's needs. I sent the article with the following introduction,
> to the Mississippi State Team.
> Carl Jarvis
> ******
>
> Greetings:
> Over my ears in the field of work with the blind and low vision, I've
> met many well intentioned RT's and O&M's who focused on Form. It was, "My
> way
> or the highway!" This, of course, was my own early approach, too. After
> all I was the Professional RT, and teacher knows best! And I was a
> rescuer, to boot. When you have time, below is an article I wrote
> some years ago that hopefully makes
> my point concerning just what we are teaching our clients. Are our
> techniques opening the door of opportunity, or are we placing
> roadblocks in their paths by demanding that they fit our mold?
>
> It was good to meet all of you, and thanks for your time.
> Carl Jarvis
>
> From the March 2008 Braille Forum
>
> LOST IN SPACE
> by Carl Jarvis
> (Reprinted from the Washington Council of the Blind "Newsline.")
>
> Have you ever wondered how it is that one blind person can be dropped off
> in
> the middle of a strange city and find his way home, while another blind
> person can't find his way out of a broom closet if he has both hands on the
> doorknob? For more than 32 years I have been working with blind people of
> all ages, shapes, sizes and abilities. During those years I have compiled a
> pile of mostly unscientific, useless information. But one most puzzling
> question keeps recurring. Why is it that some blind people get lost in
> their
> own shoes, while others seem to have a built-in sonar system?
>
> It appears to have nothing to do with when they became blind, their age or
> education or whether they are left-brain, right-brain or no-brain. So, for
> many years I concluded that it was a matter of developing the correct
> teaching technique. My early indoctrination was straightforward. The
> average
> blind person, with proper training and attitudes, could do just about
> anything.
>
> So, when I applied my magic to my students and nothing happened, I
> considered that it was my failure, not theirs. I just had not found the
> right combination of teaching tools to successfully complete the training.
> Remember the old saying, "A doctor buries his/her mistakes"? Not so for the
> rehab teacher. Our mistakes/failures keep bumping into us at meetings,
> conventions, and knocking at our doors requesting more training. Since many
> of us rehab teachers are rescuers by nature, we roll up our sleeves and
> try,
> try again, invariably ending up with the same results. People were coming
> to
> us, lost in space and seeking help. And our inability to resolve this
> problem began to impact all phases of their rehabilitation training.
> Instead
> of aiming them toward success, we were pointing them to the door marked,
> "Destination: Failure."
>
> Over the years I was absolutely certain that somewhere, somehow, there
> existed the right approach for teaching spatial awareness to blind people.
> My wife, and fellow rehab teacher, had never shared my belief. Despite
> discussing and debating this issue many times, my mind was made up. I
> simply
> could not accept that there are some skills that cannot be taught. Finally
> the light clicked on when Cathy, trying to illustrate her point, said, "You
> know, Carl, you have no sense of rhythm. And despite all these years of
> trying, you still can't follow the beat. You sing just fine but you're
> totally lost in the song, which is better, and safer, than turning you
> loose
> on the dance floor." This brought to mind my mother. She was tone-deaf. We
> always said that Mother sang the tune the old cow died on. She had about
> three notes, and yet she loved music. And I loved music, too. How was it
> that Mother and I could be serious music lovers but not be able to hum or
> dance to the tune?
>
> Of course the answer is that humming and dancing are not central to music
> appreciation. And then it hit me: I was focused on the wrong goal.
> Regardless of whether it could be taught, spatial awareness is not central
> to leading a successful, independent life. Not only was I busy trying to
> teach people to develop a skill which they did not possess, but worse yet,
> I
> was implying that without this skill they could not be successful,
> independent people. Just because a kangaroo can hop doesn't mean I can
> teach
> him to fly. Nor does he need to fly to reach his goal. And just because a
> blind person can get from point A to point B does not mean that I can teach
> him spatial awareness. Some of our brains are simply not set up to work
> that
> way.
>
> This was a hard concept for me to wrap my mind around. Over the years I
> watched many blind people travel about and arrive at their destination.
> Some
> did it with ease, while others did it by trial and error. I figured that
> the
> trial and error folks just needed to practice harder and pay closer
> attention to what they were doing. It never occurred to me that just
> getting
> there was a major success for the spatially challenged. The truth is I had
> no clue as to what these folks were struggling with. Think of trying to
> teach a blind man to see. We could put him through the same drills that we
> use for all sighted folks. Over and over we could force him to peer and
> strain, finally giving up in frustration. We might feel that we had not
> pushed him hard enough. He would be left with the feeling that he was
> incompetent. In the end, we had programmed him for a life of failure.
>
> But of course we know that a blind man cannot be taught to see. Even if his
> eyes move, and he blinks and sheds tears, he is missing something that
> cannot be taught. This absence must be accommodated if he is to function
> independently in life. This is exactly the same course of action needed for
> the spatially challenged. Trying to teach them techniques that work for the
> spatially aware will only frustrate them. What is needed is a set of
> alternative techniques that will assist them in accommodating their
> different approach to space.
>
> Whether we are blind or sighted, I believe that there are great differences
> in how our brains process spatial information. Sighted people accommodate
> this difference, unaware that it even exists. But without sight, this
> difference becomes a major problem for the spatially challenged. It is
> essential that we develop positive alternative techniques which will enable
> people to function successfully in their environment, allowing them to
> fulfill their goals to live productive, independent lives.
> _______________________________________________
> acb-chat mailing list
> acb-chat@acblists.org
> http://www.acblists.org/mailman/listinfo/acb-chat
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Carl Jarvis via acb-chat <acb-chat@acblists.org>
> Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2018 05:34:14 +0000
> Subject: [acb-chat] Thoughts from a teleconference
> To: "General discussion list for ACB members and friends where a wide
> range of topics from blindness to politics, issues of the day or
> whatever comes to mind are welcome. This is a free form discussion
> list." <acb-chat@acblists.org>
> Cc: Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com>
>
> We spent this morning on a teleconference with some folks from
> Mississippi State. The purpose of this gathering was to poke around
> at our Older Blind Program here in Washington State, and determine if
> our services are meeting the needs of our clients--how to improve
> them--determine if we are still on target--find ways of providing much
> needed training for our new RT's--and do all of this while looking for
> ways to cut budget a bit. Naturally our first suggestions were that
> the program must find more dollars if it is to meet any of its goals.
> But that's how these sorts of things go. Anyway, in my casting about
> for some materials that would make our case, I ran across an article I
> wrote a few years back, talking about how it is so easy to develop
> certain methods of training, and then stuff clients into this one
> mold, rather than developing training that is specific to each
> person's needs. I sent the article with the following introduction,
> to the Mississippi State Team.
> Carl Jarvis
> ******
>
> Greetings:
> Over my ears in the field of work with the blind and low vision, I've
> met many well intentioned RT's and O&M's who focused on Form. It was, "My
> way
> or the highway!" This, of course, was my own early approach, too. After
> all I was the Professional RT, and teacher knows best! And I was a
> rescuer, to boot. When you have time, below is an article I wrote
> some years ago that hopefully makes
> my point concerning just what we are teaching our clients. Are our
> techniques opening the door of opportunity, or are we placing
> roadblocks in their paths by demanding that they fit our mold?
>
> It was good to meet all of you, and thanks for your time.
> Carl Jarvis
>
> From the March 2008 Braille Forum
>
> LOST IN SPACE
> by Carl Jarvis
> (Reprinted from the Washington Council of the Blind "Newsline.")
>
> Have you ever wondered how it is that one blind person can be dropped off
> in
> the middle of a strange city and find his way home, while another blind
> person can't find his way out of a broom closet if he has both hands on the
> doorknob? For more than 32 years I have been working with blind people of
> all ages, shapes, sizes and abilities. During those years I have compiled a
> pile of mostly unscientific, useless information. But one most puzzling
> question keeps recurring. Why is it that some blind people get lost in
> their
> own shoes, while others seem to have a built-in sonar system?
>
> It appears to have nothing to do with when they became blind, their age or
> education or whether they are left-brain, right-brain or no-brain. So, for
> many years I concluded that it was a matter of developing the correct
> teaching technique. My early indoctrination was straightforward. The
> average
> blind person, with proper training and attitudes, could do just about
> anything.
>
> So, when I applied my magic to my students and nothing happened, I
> considered that it was my failure, not theirs. I just had not found the
> right combination of teaching tools to successfully complete the training.
> Remember the old saying, "A doctor buries his/her mistakes"? Not so for the
> rehab teacher. Our mistakes/failures keep bumping into us at meetings,
> conventions, and knocking at our doors requesting more training. Since many
> of us rehab teachers are rescuers by nature, we roll up our sleeves and
> try,
> try again, invariably ending up with the same results. People were coming
> to
> us, lost in space and seeking help. And our inability to resolve this
> problem began to impact all phases of their rehabilitation training.
> Instead
> of aiming them toward success, we were pointing them to the door marked,
> "Destination: Failure."
>
> Over the years I was absolutely certain that somewhere, somehow, there
> existed the right approach for teaching spatial awareness to blind people.
> My wife, and fellow rehab teacher, had never shared my belief. Despite
> discussing and debating this issue many times, my mind was made up. I
> simply
> could not accept that there are some skills that cannot be taught. Finally
> the light clicked on when Cathy, trying to illustrate her point, said, "You
> know, Carl, you have no sense of rhythm. And despite all these years of
> trying, you still can't follow the beat. You sing just fine but you're
> totally lost in the song, which is better, and safer, than turning you
> loose
> on the dance floor." This brought to mind my mother. She was tone-deaf. We
> always said that Mother sang the tune the old cow died on. She had about
> three notes, and yet she loved music. And I loved music, too. How was it
> that Mother and I could be serious music lovers but not be able to hum or
> dance to the tune?
>
> Of course the answer is that humming and dancing are not central to music
> appreciation. And then it hit me: I was focused on the wrong goal.
> Regardless of whether it could be taught, spatial awareness is not central
> to leading a successful, independent life. Not only was I busy trying to
> teach people to develop a skill which they did not possess, but worse yet,
> I
> was implying that without this skill they could not be successful,
> independent people. Just because a kangaroo can hop doesn't mean I can
> teach
> him to fly. Nor does he need to fly to reach his goal. And just because a
> blind person can get from point A to point B does not mean that I can teach
> him spatial awareness. Some of our brains are simply not set up to work
> that
> way.
>
> This was a hard concept for me to wrap my mind around. Over the years I
> watched many blind people travel about and arrive at their destination.
> Some
> did it with ease, while others did it by trial and error. I figured that
> the
> trial and error folks just needed to practice harder and pay closer
> attention to what they were doing. It never occurred to me that just
> getting
> there was a major success for the spatially challenged. The truth is I had
> no clue as to what these folks were struggling with. Think of trying to
> teach a blind man to see. We could put him through the same drills that we
> use for all sighted folks. Over and over we could force him to peer and
> strain, finally giving up in frustration. We might feel that we had not
> pushed him hard enough. He would be left with the feeling that he was
> incompetent. In the end, we had programmed him for a life of failure.
>
> But of course we know that a blind man cannot be taught to see. Even if his
> eyes move, and he blinks and sheds tears, he is missing something that
> cannot be taught. This absence must be accommodated if he is to function
> independently in life. This is exactly the same course of action needed for
> the spatially challenged. Trying to teach them techniques that work for the
> spatially aware will only frustrate them. What is needed is a set of
> alternative techniques that will assist them in accommodating their
> different approach to space.
>
> Whether we are blind or sighted, I believe that there are great differences
> in how our brains process spatial information. Sighted people accommodate
> this difference, unaware that it even exists. But without sight, this
> difference becomes a major problem for the spatially challenged. It is
> essential that we develop positive alternative techniques which will enable
> people to function successfully in their environment, allowing them to
> fulfill their goals to live productive, independent lives.
> _______________________________________________
> acb-chat mailing list
> acb-chat@acblists.org
> http://www.acblists.org/mailman/listinfo/acb-chat
>
Fwd: [acb-chat] Thoughts from a teleconference
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Carl Jarvis via acb-chat <acb-chat@acblists.org>
Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2018 05:34:14 +0000
Subject: [acb-chat] Thoughts from a teleconference
To: "General discussion list for ACB members and friends where a wide
range of topics from blindness to politics, issues of the day or
whatever comes to mind are welcome. This is a free form discussion
list." <acb-chat@acblists.org>
Cc: Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com>
We spent this morning on a teleconference with some folks from
Mississippi State. The purpose of this gathering was to poke around
at our Older Blind Program here in Washington State, and determine if
our services are meeting the needs of our clients--how to improve
them--determine if we are still on target--find ways of providing much
needed training for our new RT's--and do all of this while looking for
ways to cut budget a bit. Naturally our first suggestions were that
the program must find more dollars if it is to meet any of its goals.
But that's how these sorts of things go. Anyway, in my casting about
for some materials that would make our case, I ran across an article I
wrote a few years back, talking about how it is so easy to develop
certain methods of training, and then stuff clients into this one
mold, rather than developing training that is specific to each
person's needs. I sent the article with the following introduction,
to the Mississippi State Team.
Carl Jarvis
******
Greetings:
Over my ears in the field of work with the blind and low vision, I've
met many well intentioned RT's and O&M's who focused on Form. It was, "My way
or the highway!" This, of course, was my own early approach, too. After
all I was the Professional RT, and teacher knows best! And I was a
rescuer, to boot. When you have time, below is an article I wrote
some years ago that hopefully makes
my point concerning just what we are teaching our clients. Are our
techniques opening the door of opportunity, or are we placing
roadblocks in their paths by demanding that they fit our mold?
It was good to meet all of you, and thanks for your time.
Carl Jarvis
From the March 2008 Braille Forum
LOST IN SPACE
by Carl Jarvis
(Reprinted from the Washington Council of the Blind "Newsline.")
Have you ever wondered how it is that one blind person can be dropped off in
the middle of a strange city and find his way home, while another blind
person can't find his way out of a broom closet if he has both hands on the
doorknob? For more than 32 years I have been working with blind people of
all ages, shapes, sizes and abilities. During those years I have compiled a
pile of mostly unscientific, useless information. But one most puzzling
question keeps recurring. Why is it that some blind people get lost in their
own shoes, while others seem to have a built-in sonar system?
It appears to have nothing to do with when they became blind, their age or
education or whether they are left-brain, right-brain or no-brain. So, for
many years I concluded that it was a matter of developing the correct
teaching technique. My early indoctrination was straightforward. The average
blind person, with proper training and attitudes, could do just about
anything.
So, when I applied my magic to my students and nothing happened, I
considered that it was my failure, not theirs. I just had not found the
right combination of teaching tools to successfully complete the training.
Remember the old saying, "A doctor buries his/her mistakes"? Not so for the
rehab teacher. Our mistakes/failures keep bumping into us at meetings,
conventions, and knocking at our doors requesting more training. Since many
of us rehab teachers are rescuers by nature, we roll up our sleeves and try,
try again, invariably ending up with the same results. People were coming to
us, lost in space and seeking help. And our inability to resolve this
problem began to impact all phases of their rehabilitation training. Instead
of aiming them toward success, we were pointing them to the door marked,
"Destination: Failure."
Over the years I was absolutely certain that somewhere, somehow, there
existed the right approach for teaching spatial awareness to blind people.
My wife, and fellow rehab teacher, had never shared my belief. Despite
discussing and debating this issue many times, my mind was made up. I simply
could not accept that there are some skills that cannot be taught. Finally
the light clicked on when Cathy, trying to illustrate her point, said, "You
know, Carl, you have no sense of rhythm. And despite all these years of
trying, you still can't follow the beat. You sing just fine but you're
totally lost in the song, which is better, and safer, than turning you loose
on the dance floor." This brought to mind my mother. She was tone-deaf. We
always said that Mother sang the tune the old cow died on. She had about
three notes, and yet she loved music. And I loved music, too. How was it
that Mother and I could be serious music lovers but not be able to hum or
dance to the tune?
Of course the answer is that humming and dancing are not central to music
appreciation. And then it hit me: I was focused on the wrong goal.
Regardless of whether it could be taught, spatial awareness is not central
to leading a successful, independent life. Not only was I busy trying to
teach people to develop a skill which they did not possess, but worse yet, I
was implying that without this skill they could not be successful,
independent people. Just because a kangaroo can hop doesn't mean I can teach
him to fly. Nor does he need to fly to reach his goal. And just because a
blind person can get from point A to point B does not mean that I can teach
him spatial awareness. Some of our brains are simply not set up to work that
way.
This was a hard concept for me to wrap my mind around. Over the years I
watched many blind people travel about and arrive at their destination. Some
did it with ease, while others did it by trial and error. I figured that the
trial and error folks just needed to practice harder and pay closer
attention to what they were doing. It never occurred to me that just getting
there was a major success for the spatially challenged. The truth is I had
no clue as to what these folks were struggling with. Think of trying to
teach a blind man to see. We could put him through the same drills that we
use for all sighted folks. Over and over we could force him to peer and
strain, finally giving up in frustration. We might feel that we had not
pushed him hard enough. He would be left with the feeling that he was
incompetent. In the end, we had programmed him for a life of failure.
But of course we know that a blind man cannot be taught to see. Even if his
eyes move, and he blinks and sheds tears, he is missing something that
cannot be taught. This absence must be accommodated if he is to function
independently in life. This is exactly the same course of action needed for
the spatially challenged. Trying to teach them techniques that work for the
spatially aware will only frustrate them. What is needed is a set of
alternative techniques that will assist them in accommodating their
different approach to space.
Whether we are blind or sighted, I believe that there are great differences
in how our brains process spatial information. Sighted people accommodate
this difference, unaware that it even exists. But without sight, this
difference becomes a major problem for the spatially challenged. It is
essential that we develop positive alternative techniques which will enable
people to function successfully in their environment, allowing them to
fulfill their goals to live productive, independent lives.
_______________________________________________
acb-chat mailing list
acb-chat@acblists.org
http://www.acblists.org/mailman/listinfo/acb-chat
From: Carl Jarvis via acb-chat <acb-chat@acblists.org>
Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2018 05:34:14 +0000
Subject: [acb-chat] Thoughts from a teleconference
To: "General discussion list for ACB members and friends where a wide
range of topics from blindness to politics, issues of the day or
whatever comes to mind are welcome. This is a free form discussion
list." <acb-chat@acblists.org>
Cc: Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com>
We spent this morning on a teleconference with some folks from
Mississippi State. The purpose of this gathering was to poke around
at our Older Blind Program here in Washington State, and determine if
our services are meeting the needs of our clients--how to improve
them--determine if we are still on target--find ways of providing much
needed training for our new RT's--and do all of this while looking for
ways to cut budget a bit. Naturally our first suggestions were that
the program must find more dollars if it is to meet any of its goals.
But that's how these sorts of things go. Anyway, in my casting about
for some materials that would make our case, I ran across an article I
wrote a few years back, talking about how it is so easy to develop
certain methods of training, and then stuff clients into this one
mold, rather than developing training that is specific to each
person's needs. I sent the article with the following introduction,
to the Mississippi State Team.
Carl Jarvis
******
Greetings:
Over my ears in the field of work with the blind and low vision, I've
met many well intentioned RT's and O&M's who focused on Form. It was, "My way
or the highway!" This, of course, was my own early approach, too. After
all I was the Professional RT, and teacher knows best! And I was a
rescuer, to boot. When you have time, below is an article I wrote
some years ago that hopefully makes
my point concerning just what we are teaching our clients. Are our
techniques opening the door of opportunity, or are we placing
roadblocks in their paths by demanding that they fit our mold?
It was good to meet all of you, and thanks for your time.
Carl Jarvis
From the March 2008 Braille Forum
LOST IN SPACE
by Carl Jarvis
(Reprinted from the Washington Council of the Blind "Newsline.")
Have you ever wondered how it is that one blind person can be dropped off in
the middle of a strange city and find his way home, while another blind
person can't find his way out of a broom closet if he has both hands on the
doorknob? For more than 32 years I have been working with blind people of
all ages, shapes, sizes and abilities. During those years I have compiled a
pile of mostly unscientific, useless information. But one most puzzling
question keeps recurring. Why is it that some blind people get lost in their
own shoes, while others seem to have a built-in sonar system?
It appears to have nothing to do with when they became blind, their age or
education or whether they are left-brain, right-brain or no-brain. So, for
many years I concluded that it was a matter of developing the correct
teaching technique. My early indoctrination was straightforward. The average
blind person, with proper training and attitudes, could do just about
anything.
So, when I applied my magic to my students and nothing happened, I
considered that it was my failure, not theirs. I just had not found the
right combination of teaching tools to successfully complete the training.
Remember the old saying, "A doctor buries his/her mistakes"? Not so for the
rehab teacher. Our mistakes/failures keep bumping into us at meetings,
conventions, and knocking at our doors requesting more training. Since many
of us rehab teachers are rescuers by nature, we roll up our sleeves and try,
try again, invariably ending up with the same results. People were coming to
us, lost in space and seeking help. And our inability to resolve this
problem began to impact all phases of their rehabilitation training. Instead
of aiming them toward success, we were pointing them to the door marked,
"Destination: Failure."
Over the years I was absolutely certain that somewhere, somehow, there
existed the right approach for teaching spatial awareness to blind people.
My wife, and fellow rehab teacher, had never shared my belief. Despite
discussing and debating this issue many times, my mind was made up. I simply
could not accept that there are some skills that cannot be taught. Finally
the light clicked on when Cathy, trying to illustrate her point, said, "You
know, Carl, you have no sense of rhythm. And despite all these years of
trying, you still can't follow the beat. You sing just fine but you're
totally lost in the song, which is better, and safer, than turning you loose
on the dance floor." This brought to mind my mother. She was tone-deaf. We
always said that Mother sang the tune the old cow died on. She had about
three notes, and yet she loved music. And I loved music, too. How was it
that Mother and I could be serious music lovers but not be able to hum or
dance to the tune?
Of course the answer is that humming and dancing are not central to music
appreciation. And then it hit me: I was focused on the wrong goal.
Regardless of whether it could be taught, spatial awareness is not central
to leading a successful, independent life. Not only was I busy trying to
teach people to develop a skill which they did not possess, but worse yet, I
was implying that without this skill they could not be successful,
independent people. Just because a kangaroo can hop doesn't mean I can teach
him to fly. Nor does he need to fly to reach his goal. And just because a
blind person can get from point A to point B does not mean that I can teach
him spatial awareness. Some of our brains are simply not set up to work that
way.
This was a hard concept for me to wrap my mind around. Over the years I
watched many blind people travel about and arrive at their destination. Some
did it with ease, while others did it by trial and error. I figured that the
trial and error folks just needed to practice harder and pay closer
attention to what they were doing. It never occurred to me that just getting
there was a major success for the spatially challenged. The truth is I had
no clue as to what these folks were struggling with. Think of trying to
teach a blind man to see. We could put him through the same drills that we
use for all sighted folks. Over and over we could force him to peer and
strain, finally giving up in frustration. We might feel that we had not
pushed him hard enough. He would be left with the feeling that he was
incompetent. In the end, we had programmed him for a life of failure.
But of course we know that a blind man cannot be taught to see. Even if his
eyes move, and he blinks and sheds tears, he is missing something that
cannot be taught. This absence must be accommodated if he is to function
independently in life. This is exactly the same course of action needed for
the spatially challenged. Trying to teach them techniques that work for the
spatially aware will only frustrate them. What is needed is a set of
alternative techniques that will assist them in accommodating their
different approach to space.
Whether we are blind or sighted, I believe that there are great differences
in how our brains process spatial information. Sighted people accommodate
this difference, unaware that it even exists. But without sight, this
difference becomes a major problem for the spatially challenged. It is
essential that we develop positive alternative techniques which will enable
people to function successfully in their environment, allowing them to
fulfill their goals to live productive, independent lives.
_______________________________________________
acb-chat mailing list
acb-chat@acblists.org
http://www.acblists.org/mailman/listinfo/acb-chat
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Sunday, January 21, 2018
Sunday morning ramble on the stormy, win blown Olympic Peninsula
Tree branches are flying through the air, trees give up and crash to
the forest floor. It's a mild temperature, but it's a fierce storm.
So forget any outside work. It's a good day to reflect upon the
Storms brewing in our, "Other "Washington".
Although Donald Trump is the visible focal point, he is not the cause
of the current problems. The bottom line, to
coin a phrase, is Greed Driven Corporate Capitalism.
Really, would it matter if we had two Saints running for president, if
they ended up being controlled by the demands of the American
Corporate Empire(ACE)? And by the way, when in history did we have
two well qualified candidates running for the presidency? Certainly
as far back as my own lifetime goes, 1935, both major candidates were
indoctrinated in Capitalist values and principles. Remember, FDR set
about saving our American Oligarchy, when the rank and file workers
were coming close to revolution. Had Herbert Hoover stayed for a
second term we might well be living under a totally different form of
government today. So FDR was brilliant, and despite pressure from
many of the very Capitalists he was saving, he managed to steer the
nation away from out and out rebellion. But he left in place the same
bosses as had been the cause of our economic collapse. Greed!
Embedded deep within Capitalism is Greed. The need to enrich oneself
through the removal of the results of other peoples labor.
Capitalism is Greed! I repeat, Capitalism is Greed. There is no such
thing as "controlled Greed", nor is there such a thing as "controlled
capitalism". Once you establish a system that relies, for its
successful operation, upon the taking from another, you have
established an inequality that can never promote equal opportunity.
And if you can take a little from others, then as surely as the sun
will rise in the East, you will work to find ways of taking more.
Because your bottom line is always, Profit. Profit driven systems
will blow smoke in your noses by telling you all sorts of reasons they
need to take the actions they take, and how it is going to be so great
for you...really! But Profit is always the goal. And all their lofty
reasons are nothing but Fog, spread to confuse and distract you. And
that brings us to the fact that this is exactly the job of the Town
Clown, Donald Trump. He is the Court Jester, shucking and jiving to
distract Americans from the Rape and Plunder that is being conducted
by his Owners, the White Landholders. The very descendants of those
very wise men who seized upon the opportunity to wrest power away from
King George and the British Empire. This is not to take away anything
from the Constitution. For its day and time, it was a brilliant piece
of work. Too bad our current Congress can't compromise as well as
those long ago American Pillars did. But even so, Profit, Capitalism
and with it, Greed were woven into the fabric of that Great Document.
And in this, the Great American Experience was doomed even as it began
to shoulder its way into the crushing powerful nation it became
following World War II.
As far fetched as some believe it to be, and as foreign to our current
thinking, until we are able to join hands and become a single People,
and a single Human Class, until then we will continue to stumble along
attempting to serve both Profit and People. People will always loose
in that effort.
Carl Jarvis
PS. Whenever you hear Donald Trump bragging about himself, just begin
humming that old song that was so popular during the 50's..."Oh yes,
I'm the Great Pretender..."
CJ
the forest floor. It's a mild temperature, but it's a fierce storm.
So forget any outside work. It's a good day to reflect upon the
Storms brewing in our, "Other "Washington".
Although Donald Trump is the visible focal point, he is not the cause
of the current problems. The bottom line, to
coin a phrase, is Greed Driven Corporate Capitalism.
Really, would it matter if we had two Saints running for president, if
they ended up being controlled by the demands of the American
Corporate Empire(ACE)? And by the way, when in history did we have
two well qualified candidates running for the presidency? Certainly
as far back as my own lifetime goes, 1935, both major candidates were
indoctrinated in Capitalist values and principles. Remember, FDR set
about saving our American Oligarchy, when the rank and file workers
were coming close to revolution. Had Herbert Hoover stayed for a
second term we might well be living under a totally different form of
government today. So FDR was brilliant, and despite pressure from
many of the very Capitalists he was saving, he managed to steer the
nation away from out and out rebellion. But he left in place the same
bosses as had been the cause of our economic collapse. Greed!
Embedded deep within Capitalism is Greed. The need to enrich oneself
through the removal of the results of other peoples labor.
Capitalism is Greed! I repeat, Capitalism is Greed. There is no such
thing as "controlled Greed", nor is there such a thing as "controlled
capitalism". Once you establish a system that relies, for its
successful operation, upon the taking from another, you have
established an inequality that can never promote equal opportunity.
And if you can take a little from others, then as surely as the sun
will rise in the East, you will work to find ways of taking more.
Because your bottom line is always, Profit. Profit driven systems
will blow smoke in your noses by telling you all sorts of reasons they
need to take the actions they take, and how it is going to be so great
for you...really! But Profit is always the goal. And all their lofty
reasons are nothing but Fog, spread to confuse and distract you. And
that brings us to the fact that this is exactly the job of the Town
Clown, Donald Trump. He is the Court Jester, shucking and jiving to
distract Americans from the Rape and Plunder that is being conducted
by his Owners, the White Landholders. The very descendants of those
very wise men who seized upon the opportunity to wrest power away from
King George and the British Empire. This is not to take away anything
from the Constitution. For its day and time, it was a brilliant piece
of work. Too bad our current Congress can't compromise as well as
those long ago American Pillars did. But even so, Profit, Capitalism
and with it, Greed were woven into the fabric of that Great Document.
And in this, the Great American Experience was doomed even as it began
to shoulder its way into the crushing powerful nation it became
following World War II.
As far fetched as some believe it to be, and as foreign to our current
thinking, until we are able to join hands and become a single People,
and a single Human Class, until then we will continue to stumble along
attempting to serve both Profit and People. People will always loose
in that effort.
Carl Jarvis
PS. Whenever you hear Donald Trump bragging about himself, just begin
humming that old song that was so popular during the 50's..."Oh yes,
I'm the Great Pretender..."
CJ
Re: [acb-chat] FW: [PnaiOrPhila] Gloria Steinem: "When Americans Leave an Abusive Household"
We disagree, Bob. Of course Donald Trump is the visible focal point,
but he is not the cause of the current problems. The bottom line, to
coin a phrase, is Greed Driven Corporate Capitalism.
Really, would it matter if we had two Saints running for president, if
they ended up being controlled by the demands of the American
Corporate Empire(ACE)? And by the way, when in history did we have
two well qualified candidates running for the presidency? Certainly
as far back as my own lifetime goes, 1935, both major candidates were
indoctrinated in Capitalist values and principles. Remember, FDR set
about saving our American Oligarchy, when the rank and file workers
were coming close to revolution. Had Herbert Hoover stayed for a
second term we might well be living under a totally different form of
government today. So FDR was brilliant, and despite pressure from
many of the very Capitalists he was saving, he managed to steer the
nation away from out and out rebellion. But he left in place the same
bosses as had been the cause of our economic collapse. Greed!
Embedded deep within Capitalism is Greed. The need to enrich oneself
through the removal of the results of other peoples labor.
Capitalism is Greed! I repeat, Capitalism is Greed. There is no such
thing as "controlled Greed", nor is there such a thing as "controlled
capitalism". Once you establish a system that relies, for its
successful operation, upon the taking from another, you have
established an inequality that can never promote equal opportunity.
And if you can take a little from others, then as surely as the sun
will rise in the East, you will work to find ways of taking more.
Because your bottom line is always, Profit. Profit driven systems
will blow smoke in your noses by telling you all sorts of reasons they
need to take the actions they take, and how it is going to be so great
for you...really! But Profit is always the goal. And all their lofty
reasons are nothing but Fog, spread to confuse and distract you. And
that brings us to the fact that this is exactly the job of the Town
Clown, Donald Trump. He is the Court Jester, shucking and jiving to
distract Americans from the Rape and Plunder that is being conducted
by his Owners, the White Landholders. The very descendants of those
very wise men who seized upon the opportunity to wrest power away from
King George and the British Empire. This is not to take away anything
from the Constitution. For its day and time, it was a brilliant piece
of work. Too bad our current Congress can't compromise as well as
those long ago American Pillars did. But even so, Profit, Capitalism
and with it, Greed were woven into the fabric of that Great Document.
And in this, the Great American Experience was doomed even as it began
to shoulder its way into the crushing powerful nation it became
following World War II.
As far fetched as some believe it to be, and as foreign to our current
thinking, until we are able to join hands and become a single People,
and a single Human Class, until then we will continue to stumble along
attempting to serve both Profit and People. People will always loose
in that effort.
Carl Jarvis
On 1/20/18, Bob Hachey via acb-chat <acb-chat@acblists.org> wrote:
> Hi all,
> There is one inescapable fact here. The historically terrible choices we had
> for president in the general election of 2016 taken together with low voter
> turnout does reveal that around one-third of eligible voters pulled the
> lever for trump. IT is ironic that the stock market keeps right on booming
> while income inequality is also on the rise. By the way, this shut down will
> drag the markets down unless it is very short lived. Given that Schumer
> offered Trump funding for the wall, I place the blame squarely on Trump.
> Bob Hachey
>
> _______________________________________________
> acb-chat mailing list
> acb-chat@acblists.org
> http://www.acblists.org/mailman/listinfo/acb-chat
>
but he is not the cause of the current problems. The bottom line, to
coin a phrase, is Greed Driven Corporate Capitalism.
Really, would it matter if we had two Saints running for president, if
they ended up being controlled by the demands of the American
Corporate Empire(ACE)? And by the way, when in history did we have
two well qualified candidates running for the presidency? Certainly
as far back as my own lifetime goes, 1935, both major candidates were
indoctrinated in Capitalist values and principles. Remember, FDR set
about saving our American Oligarchy, when the rank and file workers
were coming close to revolution. Had Herbert Hoover stayed for a
second term we might well be living under a totally different form of
government today. So FDR was brilliant, and despite pressure from
many of the very Capitalists he was saving, he managed to steer the
nation away from out and out rebellion. But he left in place the same
bosses as had been the cause of our economic collapse. Greed!
Embedded deep within Capitalism is Greed. The need to enrich oneself
through the removal of the results of other peoples labor.
Capitalism is Greed! I repeat, Capitalism is Greed. There is no such
thing as "controlled Greed", nor is there such a thing as "controlled
capitalism". Once you establish a system that relies, for its
successful operation, upon the taking from another, you have
established an inequality that can never promote equal opportunity.
And if you can take a little from others, then as surely as the sun
will rise in the East, you will work to find ways of taking more.
Because your bottom line is always, Profit. Profit driven systems
will blow smoke in your noses by telling you all sorts of reasons they
need to take the actions they take, and how it is going to be so great
for you...really! But Profit is always the goal. And all their lofty
reasons are nothing but Fog, spread to confuse and distract you. And
that brings us to the fact that this is exactly the job of the Town
Clown, Donald Trump. He is the Court Jester, shucking and jiving to
distract Americans from the Rape and Plunder that is being conducted
by his Owners, the White Landholders. The very descendants of those
very wise men who seized upon the opportunity to wrest power away from
King George and the British Empire. This is not to take away anything
from the Constitution. For its day and time, it was a brilliant piece
of work. Too bad our current Congress can't compromise as well as
those long ago American Pillars did. But even so, Profit, Capitalism
and with it, Greed were woven into the fabric of that Great Document.
And in this, the Great American Experience was doomed even as it began
to shoulder its way into the crushing powerful nation it became
following World War II.
As far fetched as some believe it to be, and as foreign to our current
thinking, until we are able to join hands and become a single People,
and a single Human Class, until then we will continue to stumble along
attempting to serve both Profit and People. People will always loose
in that effort.
Carl Jarvis
On 1/20/18, Bob Hachey via acb-chat <acb-chat@acblists.org> wrote:
> Hi all,
> There is one inescapable fact here. The historically terrible choices we had
> for president in the general election of 2016 taken together with low voter
> turnout does reveal that around one-third of eligible voters pulled the
> lever for trump. IT is ironic that the stock market keeps right on booming
> while income inequality is also on the rise. By the way, this shut down will
> drag the markets down unless it is very short lived. Given that Schumer
> offered Trump funding for the wall, I place the blame squarely on Trump.
> Bob Hachey
>
> _______________________________________________
> acb-chat mailing list
> acb-chat@acblists.org
> http://www.acblists.org/mailman/listinfo/acb-chat
>
Saturday, January 20, 2018
Re: [blind-democracy] Republicans Plucked Out CHIP but Let a Slew of Other Health Programs Languish
I simply am unable to fathom the rationale of people, especially
women, who will go to the wall to defend an unborn fetus, but sit on
their hands when programs such as CHIP are underfunded or forced to
shut down. And where are those who gather in their neighborhood
churches and sing, "Jesus loves the little children of the world...",
and never lift one hand in protest of the slaughter caused by the
multiple bombings.
And where are those outraged fetus defenders when those unborn
children come into a world that allows Wall Street to saddle them with
heavy student loans in order to attempt to gain an education that will
lead to a decent job.
Where are these fetus lovers when the Sperm Donors skip out and leave
the women to bear all of the responsibilities? When teachers are laid
off and school buildings become hazardous, and little children come to
school hungry only to find that the school breakfasts have been cut.
Following is an article about two monsters who passed themselves off
as human parents. Where were those outspoken defenders of Life when
these 13 children were being tortured? Where are they now?
Carl Jarvis
*****
A California couple, David and Louise Turpin, accused of keeping their
13 children captive in their home pleaded not guilty Jan. 18 to
multiple felony
charges. (Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post)
What started as neglect, officials said, became dangerous and
pervasive child abuse over the years.
If they misbehaved, the 13 siblings living in a Southern California
home would be tied to their beds as punishment — first with ropes,
until a child whose
limbs were strung together was able to wriggle free. Then, the parents
began using chains and padlocks, officials said.
Over time, the periods in which the siblings were confined grew
longer, and they would not be released to use the bathroom, officials
said. The family
dogs, however, appeared to be healthy.
These disturbing living conditions for years went undiscovered, police
say, until a 17-year-old girl escaped from the Perris, Calif., house
this week.
Her 12 siblings were freed soon after, and her parents were arrested.
On Thursday, David Allen Turpin and Louise Anna Turpin were charged
with multiple felony counts of torture, child abuse, abuse of
dependent adults and
false imprisonment. David Turpin is additionally charged with
committing a lewd act on one of the female children by force. The
couple,
initially arrested
on charges of torture and child endangerment, could face up to life
in prison if found guilty.
Each defendant is being held in lieu of $13 million bail — $1 million
per child, Riverside County District Attorney Michael Hestrin said at
a news conference
Thursday.
"This is severe, emotional, physical abuse," Hestrin said. "There's no
way around that. This is depraved conduct."
A public defender for David Turpin said outside the courthouse that
"our clients are presumed to be innocent — and that's a very important
presumption."
The lawyer, David Macher, told reporters that "the case will be tried
in court. It will not be tried in the media." But he added that
defending Turpin
against so many serious charges "is going to be a challenge."
[ Social workers allegedly failed to save a boy from abuse. Now they
will face trial in his death. ]
Authorities on Thursday provided their first detailed account of the
siblings' condition and treatment.
The siblings, who range in age from 2 to 29, were severely
malnourished, according to police. When they weren't chained they were
fed very little food
on a schedule, Hestrin said.
The parents would buy food for themselves but prohibit the children
from having any, with the exception of the 2-year-old, who was getting
enough to eat.
Sometimes, authorities said, the parents would buy apple or pumpkin
pies, leave them on the counter and let them go uneaten, prohibiting
the children from
tasting them.
One 12-year-old is so malnourished that his weight was that of an
average 7-year-old, and the 29-year-old female victim weighs 82
pounds, Hestrin said.
The siblings rarely left their Perris house and did not go to school.
Instead, they were taught at home, Hestrin said, but were forced to
sleep all day
and stay up at night, typically going to sleep at 4 or 5 a.m.
The Turpin children were permitted to bathe just once a year, Hestrin said.
If they washed their hands above their wrists, they would be chained
up as punishment for playing with water, he said. Other punishments
for misbehavior
included beatings and strangulation, Hestrin said.
On 1/20/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
> © First Look Media. All rights reservedTerms of use
> WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 19: The U.S. Capitol is seen reflected in the
> windows of the Capitol Visitors Center as lawmakers work to avert a
> government shutdown January 19, 2018 in Washington, DC. A continuing
> resolution to fund the government has passed the House of Representatives
> but faces a stiff challenge in the Senate. (Photo by Aaron P.
> Bernstein/Getty Images)
>
> Republicans Plucked Out CHIP but Let a Slew of Other Health Programs
> Languish
> Aída Chávez
> January 20 2018, 8:16 a.m.
> Getty Images
>
> Congressional Republicans thought they had hit on a foolproof plan to force
> Democrats to vote for their spending bill to keep the government open for
> another month. Democrats, they reasoned, love government health insurance.
> And Democrats love children. So surely if they plucked out the Children's
> Health Insurance Program from the expiration pile and offered to renew it
> for six years, Democrats would leap at the chance — or at least not be able
> to resist it.
> "I cannot see the Democrats voting against the Children's Health Insurance
> Program," said Rep. Mo Brooks, a Republican from Alabama.
>
> The plan, though, proved too clever by half. It wasn't even enough to sway
> Republicans. Four of them, Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Jeff
> Flake of Arizona, Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky all voted
> against the measure, joined by 44 of the 49 members of the Senate Democratic
> caucus. It fell nine votes short, not remotely close.
>
> A major flaw in the GOP plan was its transparency. Strenuous effort to paint
> Democrats as heartless ran up against two basic questions that had no good
> answer. First, the program expired in September, so where was the urgency
> until now? But perhaps more importantly, CHIP has been a key part of
> bipartisan negotiations that involve a slew of popular health programs for
> the nation's most vulnerable people that also expired at the same time, and
> negotiators had long assumed all of the programs would move together.
>
> Plucking out CHIP may have only added to the uncertainty rather than
> diminished it. And it was a cost-free offer from Republicans: a new score
> from the Congressional Budget Office determined that by making it a six-year
> extension, it would actually reduce the deficit. Extending it permanently
> came with much larger savings, but that was apparently too much government
> health care for the GOP rank-and-file to swallow, so leadership went with
> the six-year bump. That wasn't enough of a bargaining chip to persuade
> Democrats to cave on the demands of 800,000 young immigrants — a demand that
> President Trump simply follow through on a DREAM Act promise he had already
> made.
>
> Yet the move will have real consequences around the country. There are only
> days of guaranteed CHIP funding left and states are scrambling to make sure
> children, many of whom are chronically ill, keep their insurance.
>
> The continuing resolution Congress passed in December came with a small band
> aid, giving CHIP a new $2.85 billion so the program could scrape by for a
> few more weeks. But it's not even the only critical health program Congress
> has failed to allocate funding for. A home visiting program to help out new
> mothers and their infants, known as MIECHV; community health centers
> nationwide; teaching health centers; and even a special diabetes program
> have all been forced to scale back services or in some cases, shut down,
> because of congressional inaction and disagreements over funding.
>
> Eleven states are on track to run out of CHIP funds before the end of
> February and the situation gets bleaker in March when half of states are
> expected to completely run out of guaranteed money, an analysis by the
> Georgetown University Center for Children and Families found.
>
> Community health centers, like CHIP, can't wait another month for Congress
> to resolve the funding crisis – these centers serve anyone who needs care,
> regardless of their ability to pay or health condition. The National
> Association of Community Health Centers said they were "extremely
> disappointed" with the House bill and warned "health centers and their
> patients are facing considerable damage with each passing day while this
> matter remains unresolved."
>
> "Centers are being forced to execute contingency plans resulting in staff
> layoffs and site closures, and are scaling back critical services including
> prenatal care, dental services and opioid treatment programs," NACHC said.
> "If not resolved soon, this funding cliff will result in a loss of care to
> approximately 9 million patients, closure of over 2,500 care delivery sites,
> and a loss of over 50,000 jobs."
>
> Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., cited the lack of funding for community health
> centers as a chief reason she voted no. "In addition to seriously harming
> our Armed Forces, this bill fails to adequately support Veterans or fund
> community health centers, and it leaves hundreds of thousands of Dreamers in
> a state of uncertainty. Enough is enough," she said.
>
> Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana told reporters before the vote on
> the House-passed CR that "if you're gonna shut her down for 300 million
> Americans, you better have a damn good reason."
>
> "And you better understand what you're doing…checks to military widows and
> widowers will stop, we're have to close down community health centers, we'll
> have to close down opioid treatment centers," Kennedy said. "Nobody wants
> that, unless there's an emergency and we don't have an emergency, we have a
> manufactured crisis."
>
> Another health initiative, the Special Diabetes Program, expired in October.
> By failing to renew its funding, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
> said, Congress is putting promising research on new technology and treatment
> advances in "serious jeopardy." The research foundation opposed the House
> CR, and instead urged Congress to bring a two-year renewal of $150 million
> for the program to the floor for a vote. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and
> Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles created the program in
> 1997, specifically for Type 1 diabetes.
>
> There's nothing controversial about the Maternal, Infant, and Early
> Childhood Home Visiting program either. It's relatively small and lawmakers
> from both parties laud it as a model of evidence-based policymaking. Around
> 98 percent of participants showed improvement in areas, like maternal and
> newborn health, crime, domestic violence, and family economic
> self-sufficiency, according to data from state and nonprofit grantees.
>
> Home visitors provide a number of services to families, including guidance
> on topics like breastfeeding and safe sleep practices, and providing
> referrals to address postpartum depression, substance abuse, and family
> violence. Grantees reported serving about 160,000 families in fiscal year
> 2016, and many of the participants are young teenage moms or other
> vulnerable parents.
>
> "For the past year, as we worked with members of Congress to reauthorize
> MIECHV, they voiced support for home visiting programs, but what we need now
> is action, not more words of support," Karen Howard, vice president of early
> childhood policy at First Focus, said Thursday.
>
> "The farther Congress kicks the can down the road, the more children and
> families in this country will be harmed. If Congress can't act immediately
> to allocate funds, continuing uncertainties could cause programs to freeze
> enrollment of families, defer training of home visitors and delay
> operational improvements."
>
> The U.S. Capitol is seen reflected in the windows of the Capitol Visitors
> Center as lawmakers work to avert a government shutdown January 19, 2018 in
> Washington, DC.
>
>
>
> 👆
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
women, who will go to the wall to defend an unborn fetus, but sit on
their hands when programs such as CHIP are underfunded or forced to
shut down. And where are those who gather in their neighborhood
churches and sing, "Jesus loves the little children of the world...",
and never lift one hand in protest of the slaughter caused by the
multiple bombings.
And where are those outraged fetus defenders when those unborn
children come into a world that allows Wall Street to saddle them with
heavy student loans in order to attempt to gain an education that will
lead to a decent job.
Where are these fetus lovers when the Sperm Donors skip out and leave
the women to bear all of the responsibilities? When teachers are laid
off and school buildings become hazardous, and little children come to
school hungry only to find that the school breakfasts have been cut.
Following is an article about two monsters who passed themselves off
as human parents. Where were those outspoken defenders of Life when
these 13 children were being tortured? Where are they now?
Carl Jarvis
*****
A California couple, David and Louise Turpin, accused of keeping their
13 children captive in their home pleaded not guilty Jan. 18 to
multiple felony
charges. (Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post)
What started as neglect, officials said, became dangerous and
pervasive child abuse over the years.
If they misbehaved, the 13 siblings living in a Southern California
home would be tied to their beds as punishment — first with ropes,
until a child whose
limbs were strung together was able to wriggle free. Then, the parents
began using chains and padlocks, officials said.
Over time, the periods in which the siblings were confined grew
longer, and they would not be released to use the bathroom, officials
said. The family
dogs, however, appeared to be healthy.
These disturbing living conditions for years went undiscovered, police
say, until a 17-year-old girl escaped from the Perris, Calif., house
this week.
Her 12 siblings were freed soon after, and her parents were arrested.
On Thursday, David Allen Turpin and Louise Anna Turpin were charged
with multiple felony counts of torture, child abuse, abuse of
dependent adults and
false imprisonment. David Turpin is additionally charged with
committing a lewd act on one of the female children by force. The
couple,
initially arrested
on charges of torture and child endangerment, could face up to life
in prison if found guilty.
Each defendant is being held in lieu of $13 million bail — $1 million
per child, Riverside County District Attorney Michael Hestrin said at
a news conference
Thursday.
"This is severe, emotional, physical abuse," Hestrin said. "There's no
way around that. This is depraved conduct."
A public defender for David Turpin said outside the courthouse that
"our clients are presumed to be innocent — and that's a very important
presumption."
The lawyer, David Macher, told reporters that "the case will be tried
in court. It will not be tried in the media." But he added that
defending Turpin
against so many serious charges "is going to be a challenge."
[ Social workers allegedly failed to save a boy from abuse. Now they
will face trial in his death. ]
Authorities on Thursday provided their first detailed account of the
siblings' condition and treatment.
The siblings, who range in age from 2 to 29, were severely
malnourished, according to police. When they weren't chained they were
fed very little food
on a schedule, Hestrin said.
The parents would buy food for themselves but prohibit the children
from having any, with the exception of the 2-year-old, who was getting
enough to eat.
Sometimes, authorities said, the parents would buy apple or pumpkin
pies, leave them on the counter and let them go uneaten, prohibiting
the children from
tasting them.
One 12-year-old is so malnourished that his weight was that of an
average 7-year-old, and the 29-year-old female victim weighs 82
pounds, Hestrin said.
The siblings rarely left their Perris house and did not go to school.
Instead, they were taught at home, Hestrin said, but were forced to
sleep all day
and stay up at night, typically going to sleep at 4 or 5 a.m.
The Turpin children were permitted to bathe just once a year, Hestrin said.
If they washed their hands above their wrists, they would be chained
up as punishment for playing with water, he said. Other punishments
for misbehavior
included beatings and strangulation, Hestrin said.
On 1/20/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
> © First Look Media. All rights reservedTerms of use
> WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 19: The U.S. Capitol is seen reflected in the
> windows of the Capitol Visitors Center as lawmakers work to avert a
> government shutdown January 19, 2018 in Washington, DC. A continuing
> resolution to fund the government has passed the House of Representatives
> but faces a stiff challenge in the Senate. (Photo by Aaron P.
> Bernstein/Getty Images)
>
> Republicans Plucked Out CHIP but Let a Slew of Other Health Programs
> Languish
> Aída Chávez
> January 20 2018, 8:16 a.m.
> Getty Images
>
> Congressional Republicans thought they had hit on a foolproof plan to force
> Democrats to vote for their spending bill to keep the government open for
> another month. Democrats, they reasoned, love government health insurance.
> And Democrats love children. So surely if they plucked out the Children's
> Health Insurance Program from the expiration pile and offered to renew it
> for six years, Democrats would leap at the chance — or at least not be able
> to resist it.
> "I cannot see the Democrats voting against the Children's Health Insurance
> Program," said Rep. Mo Brooks, a Republican from Alabama.
>
> The plan, though, proved too clever by half. It wasn't even enough to sway
> Republicans. Four of them, Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Jeff
> Flake of Arizona, Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky all voted
> against the measure, joined by 44 of the 49 members of the Senate Democratic
> caucus. It fell nine votes short, not remotely close.
>
> A major flaw in the GOP plan was its transparency. Strenuous effort to paint
> Democrats as heartless ran up against two basic questions that had no good
> answer. First, the program expired in September, so where was the urgency
> until now? But perhaps more importantly, CHIP has been a key part of
> bipartisan negotiations that involve a slew of popular health programs for
> the nation's most vulnerable people that also expired at the same time, and
> negotiators had long assumed all of the programs would move together.
>
> Plucking out CHIP may have only added to the uncertainty rather than
> diminished it. And it was a cost-free offer from Republicans: a new score
> from the Congressional Budget Office determined that by making it a six-year
> extension, it would actually reduce the deficit. Extending it permanently
> came with much larger savings, but that was apparently too much government
> health care for the GOP rank-and-file to swallow, so leadership went with
> the six-year bump. That wasn't enough of a bargaining chip to persuade
> Democrats to cave on the demands of 800,000 young immigrants — a demand that
> President Trump simply follow through on a DREAM Act promise he had already
> made.
>
> Yet the move will have real consequences around the country. There are only
> days of guaranteed CHIP funding left and states are scrambling to make sure
> children, many of whom are chronically ill, keep their insurance.
>
> The continuing resolution Congress passed in December came with a small band
> aid, giving CHIP a new $2.85 billion so the program could scrape by for a
> few more weeks. But it's not even the only critical health program Congress
> has failed to allocate funding for. A home visiting program to help out new
> mothers and their infants, known as MIECHV; community health centers
> nationwide; teaching health centers; and even a special diabetes program
> have all been forced to scale back services or in some cases, shut down,
> because of congressional inaction and disagreements over funding.
>
> Eleven states are on track to run out of CHIP funds before the end of
> February and the situation gets bleaker in March when half of states are
> expected to completely run out of guaranteed money, an analysis by the
> Georgetown University Center for Children and Families found.
>
> Community health centers, like CHIP, can't wait another month for Congress
> to resolve the funding crisis – these centers serve anyone who needs care,
> regardless of their ability to pay or health condition. The National
> Association of Community Health Centers said they were "extremely
> disappointed" with the House bill and warned "health centers and their
> patients are facing considerable damage with each passing day while this
> matter remains unresolved."
>
> "Centers are being forced to execute contingency plans resulting in staff
> layoffs and site closures, and are scaling back critical services including
> prenatal care, dental services and opioid treatment programs," NACHC said.
> "If not resolved soon, this funding cliff will result in a loss of care to
> approximately 9 million patients, closure of over 2,500 care delivery sites,
> and a loss of over 50,000 jobs."
>
> Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., cited the lack of funding for community health
> centers as a chief reason she voted no. "In addition to seriously harming
> our Armed Forces, this bill fails to adequately support Veterans or fund
> community health centers, and it leaves hundreds of thousands of Dreamers in
> a state of uncertainty. Enough is enough," she said.
>
> Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana told reporters before the vote on
> the House-passed CR that "if you're gonna shut her down for 300 million
> Americans, you better have a damn good reason."
>
> "And you better understand what you're doing…checks to military widows and
> widowers will stop, we're have to close down community health centers, we'll
> have to close down opioid treatment centers," Kennedy said. "Nobody wants
> that, unless there's an emergency and we don't have an emergency, we have a
> manufactured crisis."
>
> Another health initiative, the Special Diabetes Program, expired in October.
> By failing to renew its funding, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
> said, Congress is putting promising research on new technology and treatment
> advances in "serious jeopardy." The research foundation opposed the House
> CR, and instead urged Congress to bring a two-year renewal of $150 million
> for the program to the floor for a vote. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and
> Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles created the program in
> 1997, specifically for Type 1 diabetes.
>
> There's nothing controversial about the Maternal, Infant, and Early
> Childhood Home Visiting program either. It's relatively small and lawmakers
> from both parties laud it as a model of evidence-based policymaking. Around
> 98 percent of participants showed improvement in areas, like maternal and
> newborn health, crime, domestic violence, and family economic
> self-sufficiency, according to data from state and nonprofit grantees.
>
> Home visitors provide a number of services to families, including guidance
> on topics like breastfeeding and safe sleep practices, and providing
> referrals to address postpartum depression, substance abuse, and family
> violence. Grantees reported serving about 160,000 families in fiscal year
> 2016, and many of the participants are young teenage moms or other
> vulnerable parents.
>
> "For the past year, as we worked with members of Congress to reauthorize
> MIECHV, they voiced support for home visiting programs, but what we need now
> is action, not more words of support," Karen Howard, vice president of early
> childhood policy at First Focus, said Thursday.
>
> "The farther Congress kicks the can down the road, the more children and
> families in this country will be harmed. If Congress can't act immediately
> to allocate funds, continuing uncertainties could cause programs to freeze
> enrollment of families, defer training of home visitors and delay
> operational improvements."
>
> The U.S. Capitol is seen reflected in the windows of the Capitol Visitors
> Center as lawmakers work to avert a government shutdown January 19, 2018 in
> Washington, DC.
>
>
>
> 👆
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
Friday, January 19, 2018
Re: the end of an interesting discussion?
Well Bob, if I were president, I'd have very little, if any, support
from Congress. But what I could do would be to first appoint my
Cabinet. In anticipation that my appointments would be rejected, I
would first send forward names of people who strongly believed in the
Departments they would direct. I would send with my appointments a
note that should they be rejected, the next...and subsequent names
would be even further removed from the Empire's wishes, reminding them
that in the absence of Directors, I would make the decisions for each
Department.
Next, even knowing that all of my appointments to the many Judge
vacancies, would be rejected, I would send Congress bushel baskets
full of good, well qualified judges. Well qualified to make decisions in the
direction of protecting the working class Americans.
Next, I would propose cutting our military budget in half, using the
savings to rebuild our abandoned infrastructure. Some of those
savings would underwrite full education, along with new facilities and
more teachers. I would establish a committee to study how we are
educating our children. Currently we teach nothing about social
interaction, or the art of establishing Peace. Children should be
encouraged to continue their education to their highest possible level.
Those who are not able to compete in academia, would enter trade
schools where they would learn skills critical to running a strong
nation. If we agree that a government should provide support and
encouragement, protection and the opportunity of a healthy future,
then we, the government of the People, would provide work at a living
wage. The work of rebuilding our infrastructure, building new modest
priced housing and training neighborhood supporters...folks who looked
for those who become forgotten,
The Plan, or Goal would be to develop a community that encouraged people
to want to improve themselves.
I'll stop at this point because it is all pie in the sky. There is no
way I would ever be president. There is no way that I, or any
individual could turn this nation in a new direction without strong
support from congress. We are locked into a Two-Headed, One Party
political system, owned by the American Oligarchy...the Billionaires.
But here we come to a serious impasse. Figures! What's the old
saying? "Figures don't lie, but liars sure can figure." No, I'm not
calling you a liar, but the statistics you toss at me are all suspect,
and subject to interpretation. I have no wish to go one on one with
you. For one thing, I don't want to attempt to defend Barack Obama's
administration anymore than I supported George Bush II, or Bill
Clinton. These men, along with our current "leader" are faithful
servants of the Corporate American Empire(ACE). The Oligarchy is
doing just fine by them. Our long established Ruling Class holds
control of the government, controls the press, owns the Courts,
controls through its banks and investment houses most of the property,
and best of all, not only has a corner on the actual money, but also
the ability to print more whenever it is needed.
You say, "As far as illegal immigration, The United States is not the
caretaker of the world. It is the caretaker of its citizens."
At least it *Should be caretaker of its citizens. But it appears that
a majority of Americans are going uncared for.
I've proposed before the thought that being divided into nations works
to the advantage of the Ruling Classes and makes any sort of equal
opportunity impossible. While I am a dreamer, my blindness is a
condition in my eyes, not in my reasoning. So I do not expect we will
ever see a day when the Human Race removes its self-imposed
boundaries. A One People World could go a long way toward keeping our
Planet Earth a Garden of Eden. But sadly, we have more hangups than a
troupe of Baboons. One fine day, when the last two humans meet in
battle, we will go the way of the Neanderthal...or the Dodo Bird.
So for now I remain,
yours for an open mind, Carl Jarvis
On 1/17/18, Bob <buildyourownwealth@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello Carl:
>
> Specifically, if you were president, what actions would you take to
> relieve poverty/discrimination. Please don't give me rhetoric: give
> me specific actions.
> When Obama was president, the welfare roles grew by millions. The
> national debt doubled. Yet, the black community was actually worse
> off. Unemployment grew, the public education system was in a state of
> chaos: Murder rates, within the black community, have mushroomed and
> much of that, is black on black crime.
> Believe me, I am not a racist but in my opinion, many of the issues
> that plague the black community can be attributed directly to their
> cultural attitudes.
> Obama had two years of total government control to change things.
> What did he accomplish in terms of making things better for the black
> community other than Obama Care. As it turns out, that is also very
> questionable.
> Trump has had total government control, other than the democratic
> obstructionist, for one year. You compare the results of the two
> administrations on a policy rather than a personality basis. Now,
> black unemployment is at an all time low. We will see what transpires
> over the next three years.
> As far as illegal immigration, The United States is not the
> caretaker of the world. It is the caretaker of its citizens.
> Like you, I believe that society is crumbling. Unlike you, I
> believe that it is the fault of the progressive/leftist rather than
> the capitalist.
> Have a great day. I do respect your opinions, I just ndon't agree
> with them. Time will tell.
>
> Bob
>
> On 1/17/18, Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Well Bob,
>> My thought in sending the article by West, was to learn if you might
>> agree with any part of it. I do, but certainly not all he has to say.
>> Despite your labeling me a parrot.
>> You just seem intent on putting me into a box with all those people
>> you judge misinformed or silly dreamers, while you, the wise
>> entrepreneurial Soul sit in your Ivory Tower and pass judgement.
>> The spiritual and moral decline of this nation is due to the
>> abandonment of caring for the needs of our People, for the scramble of
>> the Ruling Class to profit from everything their Midas fingers touch.
>> When you tell me that the capitalistic system is not perfect, you
>> bring our conversation to an end. Your mind is set. You insist on
>> putting labels on me and whatever I attempt to say, so you can tuck it
>> all into a place where you can deny any of it, and continue following
>> your own Rainbow to its pot of gold. And that's your right. But come
>> on, Capitalism is just needing a little tweaking? You seem well read,
>> but you also appear ignorant of what is going on around you. Come
>> down from your Tower and travel among Human Beings for a while. Get
>> into the slums and try to figure out why these people are unable to
>> break the economic chains that have them trapped. Or do you believe
>> that some of you are simply superior to the rest of us? If not, then
>> how do you explain the grinding poverty that goes unnoticed in this
>> Great Nation?
>> Anyway, time will tell just how right you are...or wrong. So Label me
>> and tuck me along with all the other folk you feel so superior to.
>> And as you long to join with those above you on the "Ladder to
>> Success", the rest of us will roll up our sleeves and do the real work
>> of turning this broken Empire into a Land of the Free and the Home of
>> the Brave.
>> Carl Jarvis
>>
>
>
> --
> YOUR HEALTH IS YOUR MOST IMPORTANT PERSONAL ASSET!!!
> TAKE THE CHALLENGE AT:
> HTTP://BOB-CLARK.COM
> Telephone: 800-345-9760
>
from Congress. But what I could do would be to first appoint my
Cabinet. In anticipation that my appointments would be rejected, I
would first send forward names of people who strongly believed in the
Departments they would direct. I would send with my appointments a
note that should they be rejected, the next...and subsequent names
would be even further removed from the Empire's wishes, reminding them
that in the absence of Directors, I would make the decisions for each
Department.
Next, even knowing that all of my appointments to the many Judge
vacancies, would be rejected, I would send Congress bushel baskets
full of good, well qualified judges. Well qualified to make decisions in the
direction of protecting the working class Americans.
Next, I would propose cutting our military budget in half, using the
savings to rebuild our abandoned infrastructure. Some of those
savings would underwrite full education, along with new facilities and
more teachers. I would establish a committee to study how we are
educating our children. Currently we teach nothing about social
interaction, or the art of establishing Peace. Children should be
encouraged to continue their education to their highest possible level.
Those who are not able to compete in academia, would enter trade
schools where they would learn skills critical to running a strong
nation. If we agree that a government should provide support and
encouragement, protection and the opportunity of a healthy future,
then we, the government of the People, would provide work at a living
wage. The work of rebuilding our infrastructure, building new modest
priced housing and training neighborhood supporters...folks who looked
for those who become forgotten,
The Plan, or Goal would be to develop a community that encouraged people
to want to improve themselves.
I'll stop at this point because it is all pie in the sky. There is no
way I would ever be president. There is no way that I, or any
individual could turn this nation in a new direction without strong
support from congress. We are locked into a Two-Headed, One Party
political system, owned by the American Oligarchy...the Billionaires.
But here we come to a serious impasse. Figures! What's the old
saying? "Figures don't lie, but liars sure can figure." No, I'm not
calling you a liar, but the statistics you toss at me are all suspect,
and subject to interpretation. I have no wish to go one on one with
you. For one thing, I don't want to attempt to defend Barack Obama's
administration anymore than I supported George Bush II, or Bill
Clinton. These men, along with our current "leader" are faithful
servants of the Corporate American Empire(ACE). The Oligarchy is
doing just fine by them. Our long established Ruling Class holds
control of the government, controls the press, owns the Courts,
controls through its banks and investment houses most of the property,
and best of all, not only has a corner on the actual money, but also
the ability to print more whenever it is needed.
You say, "As far as illegal immigration, The United States is not the
caretaker of the world. It is the caretaker of its citizens."
At least it *Should be caretaker of its citizens. But it appears that
a majority of Americans are going uncared for.
I've proposed before the thought that being divided into nations works
to the advantage of the Ruling Classes and makes any sort of equal
opportunity impossible. While I am a dreamer, my blindness is a
condition in my eyes, not in my reasoning. So I do not expect we will
ever see a day when the Human Race removes its self-imposed
boundaries. A One People World could go a long way toward keeping our
Planet Earth a Garden of Eden. But sadly, we have more hangups than a
troupe of Baboons. One fine day, when the last two humans meet in
battle, we will go the way of the Neanderthal...or the Dodo Bird.
So for now I remain,
yours for an open mind, Carl Jarvis
On 1/17/18, Bob <buildyourownwealth@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello Carl:
>
> Specifically, if you were president, what actions would you take to
> relieve poverty/discrimination. Please don't give me rhetoric: give
> me specific actions.
> When Obama was president, the welfare roles grew by millions. The
> national debt doubled. Yet, the black community was actually worse
> off. Unemployment grew, the public education system was in a state of
> chaos: Murder rates, within the black community, have mushroomed and
> much of that, is black on black crime.
> Believe me, I am not a racist but in my opinion, many of the issues
> that plague the black community can be attributed directly to their
> cultural attitudes.
> Obama had two years of total government control to change things.
> What did he accomplish in terms of making things better for the black
> community other than Obama Care. As it turns out, that is also very
> questionable.
> Trump has had total government control, other than the democratic
> obstructionist, for one year. You compare the results of the two
> administrations on a policy rather than a personality basis. Now,
> black unemployment is at an all time low. We will see what transpires
> over the next three years.
> As far as illegal immigration, The United States is not the
> caretaker of the world. It is the caretaker of its citizens.
> Like you, I believe that society is crumbling. Unlike you, I
> believe that it is the fault of the progressive/leftist rather than
> the capitalist.
> Have a great day. I do respect your opinions, I just ndon't agree
> with them. Time will tell.
>
> Bob
>
> On 1/17/18, Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Well Bob,
>> My thought in sending the article by West, was to learn if you might
>> agree with any part of it. I do, but certainly not all he has to say.
>> Despite your labeling me a parrot.
>> You just seem intent on putting me into a box with all those people
>> you judge misinformed or silly dreamers, while you, the wise
>> entrepreneurial Soul sit in your Ivory Tower and pass judgement.
>> The spiritual and moral decline of this nation is due to the
>> abandonment of caring for the needs of our People, for the scramble of
>> the Ruling Class to profit from everything their Midas fingers touch.
>> When you tell me that the capitalistic system is not perfect, you
>> bring our conversation to an end. Your mind is set. You insist on
>> putting labels on me and whatever I attempt to say, so you can tuck it
>> all into a place where you can deny any of it, and continue following
>> your own Rainbow to its pot of gold. And that's your right. But come
>> on, Capitalism is just needing a little tweaking? You seem well read,
>> but you also appear ignorant of what is going on around you. Come
>> down from your Tower and travel among Human Beings for a while. Get
>> into the slums and try to figure out why these people are unable to
>> break the economic chains that have them trapped. Or do you believe
>> that some of you are simply superior to the rest of us? If not, then
>> how do you explain the grinding poverty that goes unnoticed in this
>> Great Nation?
>> Anyway, time will tell just how right you are...or wrong. So Label me
>> and tuck me along with all the other folk you feel so superior to.
>> And as you long to join with those above you on the "Ladder to
>> Success", the rest of us will roll up our sleeves and do the real work
>> of turning this broken Empire into a Land of the Free and the Home of
>> the Brave.
>> Carl Jarvis
>>
>
>
> --
> YOUR HEALTH IS YOUR MOST IMPORTANT PERSONAL ASSET!!!
> TAKE THE CHALLENGE AT:
> HTTP://BOB-CLARK.COM
> Telephone: 800-345-9760
>
Re: [blind-democracy] FW: The stable genius shutdown
With a name like Grim, Ryan is certainly in the right line of work.
It's difficult to understand how so many of working class Americans
can swallow the never ending propaganda that the USA is the most
advanced, free, democratic nation, ever. And to prove it, Donald
Trump is planning to return us to our Greatness...hmm...how do we
return to something we are already the greatest in?
Of course, working class Americans aside, we truly are the Greatest
Nation on Earth...if you are among that very small percentage of the
Ruling Class that is never affected by Market Crashes, or
Foreclosures, or unemployment, or huge medical bills, or crumbling
understaffed schools, or back breaking student loans that you pay for
the privilege of obtaining an education that graduates you into
unemployment. So if a government is put in place to defend its
citizens, and to work toward economic well being, and to provide a
safe environment, and to protect the rights of all citizens through a
legal system that upholds the nation's laws, for all citizens, then
the USA has failed most of its Citizens. But it is doing a fine job
for the Oligarchy, the Ruling Class, and for the advancement of the
American Corporate Empire(ACE).
Back when I was a boy and when ten dollars was a big deal, I was
walking to school, kicking the Autumn leaves, when I saw a bit of
green among the yellow and brown and red. It was a ten dollar bill!
Imagine! When your allowance was 25 cents a week, ten dollars was
like falling over a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Add to the
fact that I was a poor child from a poor family, the fact that I was a
Geeky looking kid, tall and gangling and sporting thick bifocals. I
was instant gratitude for all the schoolyard bullies. They would line
up, eager for their turn. But this morning I had ten dollars in my
pocket. Ten dollars! That money meant power. I knew that without
having to call up my congressman or any of his Lobbyists. No, I knew
just what to do. I slipped into Jacobson's drugstore and bought ten
dollars worth of candy. I told Mister Jacobson that it was for a
party. And it was, a big schoolyard party. As the bullies began
shoving one another to get a whack at me, I offered them some candy.
They all shuffled forward with shocked looks on their mean little ten
year old faces. But they took the bait. In no time at all I was
everybody's friend. And so, in that one moment of glory, I learned
the power of money. And the next day I learned what happens when the
money and the candy runs out. This message was so basic, so
fundamental that it takes constant hammering by the Empire's
propaganda machine...the mass media, to keep us off balance and
confused.
This job falls to the very people whom President Trump accuses of Fake
News. But Mister Trump, I've always known it was Fake News. The
difference is that you falsely claim the News is leaning far to the
Left, even as it is totally owned by your Billionaire Friends.
Together you play the news people for suckers, laying false charges on
them and tugging them further to the Right, through the fear of being
censored if they don't play ball. It's a cool scam.
The result is that many working class Americans have been
indoctrinated into believing that they are marching behind a leader
who has their best interest at heart. The rise of White Power,
unspoken as it is, becomes a powerful magnet "Christian Values"
bandied about but never lived up to, draw other confused Believers,
while always before us is the life lived by the privileged few,
promising that if we only work hard enough and believe strongly
enough, and believe in Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth
Fairy, we just might come close enough to live in a fine home just
down the hill, past the gates to the Master's Mansion.
And then we will live happily ever after...just as long as we can keep
everyone else living below us.
Carl Jarvis
On 1/18/18,
> From: Ryan Grim [mailto:ryan.grim@theintercept.com]
> Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2018 9:58 PM
> To: miriamvieni@optonline.net
> Subject: The stable genius shutdown
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> House Republicans celebrated this afternoon the passage of a one-month
> spending bill that includes a six-year extension of the children's health
> insurance program. That latter part is a sign that Paul Ryan is getting
> clever, and whenever he gets clever, his plan usually flops. It doesn't help
> Ryan that Trump himself helped negotiate this deal.
>
> The government runs out of spending authority Friday at midnight, and the
> Senate plans to take up the House measure Friday. Republicans need 60 votes
> to get it done, and they don't have it, so...that would mean a shutdown,
> unless somebody blinks.
>
> All of this inability to govern is having real consequences. Republicans
> added CHIP to the bill thinking it would get Democratic support without
> anything to help Dreamers. But they left a host of other crucial health care
> programs out that also expired, like CHIP, in September. (It's January!)
>
> The maternal-infant home-visiting program
> <http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/IgE/ni0YAA/t.2e9/of81WqdcReKl0n-siJBVrg/h0/3iaThca61p2tcSwqPS1jRrE2McMJ2W-2BEwW4z2Tq1gADRoxzW0eepe0uJAqsUK-2BzEOLmwHL4egUKTFSlaMYnspwgVks1eGLxP-2B76M4lSZLK0xv7VJhMchzFK3WG7wf6AzMJt854-2FjOhWRXAIAm7Sdn4Q6A-2Btfz6CNRvqdN-2Fb3yvwTY86zGjehIy-2FaQ1s1WoG1lakt0A1JO8N1P6C2HnHtFJpmwFcoS8iRBeBCfmsigsnkHxk9AHF3F71BWjaeLSxB4Eeg70FG-2BPhZggfeWC9QQ0NZwsCZBdggmh283B4KIesFBj10IJ7NuhQPvLFTvXn4Ez-2FfY1NtpQm6AU8czN9gSg-3D-3D>
> is cutting its rolls and can't hire staff, community health centers are in
> crisis, teaching hospitals are struggling: for no reason whatsoever,
> Congress is letting things just fall apart.
>
> (Why did they extend CHIP for the odd time-frame of six years? Because by
> year six, the CBO scores CHIP as saving money, so Republicans can stuff
> other goodies in the bill on the back of the program.)
>
> So after this Paul Ryan bill fails, will Mitch McConnell put a short-term
> spending bill to keep the government open for a few days on the floor? I
> think he probably will.
>
> 2. Speaking of Ryan's bill, I had a scoop this morning on it: the measure
> would allow the Trump administration to secretly shift money to new
> intelligence projects without informing Congress. It would be a break with
> 70 years of law and tradition.
>
> 3. The Trump administration has told Puerto Rico that it is too rich to get
> aid money. No, really.
> <http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/IgE/ni0YAA/t.2e9/of81WqdcReKl0n-siJBVrg/h2/3iaThca61p2tcSwqPS1jRn30UMOFbXr7qn-2B9F7Ct0A5qA6ib9RXrq30Vs-2Bw0cMyksX9gI7KcT5Fx1KG7QJszJk-2FgpgxXXkR1PUoUGvdVonRqGUuF9RxlSpopS5MdL58Kb3MWdd0FJCP7NBkF9rkrqY8XHOS9BFy6pEqK6nGWS0i6-2BRLDEEYtmmpe9l7CFVjJLw3LEfElx497KmL-2FjG96rtbVT532xJHk6WeCz1Jh1MEV3KPUIUjm0S6Yvh0OFEgaTpvJt2aV-2FypbhOnm3esZAGpS-2BVC-2BQz-2FUTsa9dGBR9P8-2BpFPUw8jETjJj1-2BaVRqlEUPMX26kqzRinbsPbbwtJfFgumZuXfYUPXVNb-2FzS0Cnc-3D>
>
>
> 4. A new report says that Border Patrol agents, going back to at least 2012,
> have been vandalizing and destroying humanitarian supplies left for people
> trudging through the desert. It's hard to wrap my head around that level of
> cruelty and indifference. Story is here.
>
> 5. If you're reading this Friday morning, part two of our investigation into
> the insurance firm Aflac is now published, check it out at TheIntercept.com.
> <http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/IgE/ni0YAA/t.2e9/of81WqdcReKl0n-siJBVrg/h4/3iaThca61p2tcSwqPS1jRq2hRli3UfegBoxYehO09Fpo5dSmnF7Z-2BFjU2ux2ZNGiuPRcKhu0iK4Sdjw4bNvz5meSc6Iyo89FMUTQsDg-2BypqqPH19YHmJd4FxpG37oP8MsTg-2BrF99h8zeh4hT7TeLhcxeTyM7FNBqZrIW1-2BVIJN0j4PT6wa7-2B7uGniflbyPYf6PbS-2BjrVrlSECr0dlLk8wj5sQlYvFFhVMUUVq2pieFM1VCasjHnI2WD6QU3Os6jf>
> This email grows by word of mouth. If you enjoy getting it, please forward
> this note to friends and tell them to sign up to start getting their own
> copy here.
> <http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/IgE/ni0YAA/t.2e9/of81WqdcReKl0n-siJBVrg/h5/WQ-2BlIwq7W2eCmkkcwbDiBbZZ8k6zBVQtuO7myuMWellrvTGlKo2hRPW3DyUOdDCHmcTPQ31WO3aDptkxO-2B170nUd19JW8uwbEe2CpTPArZgBirv55XUoSJFDL-2B2J3P1dkyLUQVqqr6e9mQYp7M-2BXaMum66jrbJMBHvAfVQj9oniPf9m4wK3abQuydw0LN8FIzYR8OTmJTGJr5aQYdqeU2Ro7GJZ-2B-2Bo-2F28fB97JhmpOODtweY7YeavWMpDcawKiSecTsfPFHGBE1KhrShe3qECQcUbhC1zfevVyQ-2B-2Bl-2F76g6FcFobmnOi5INlyImGwjoV>
>
>
> I'm the Washington bureau chief at The Intercept, and I send this several
> times a week. If you want to contribute directly to help keep the thing
> running, you can do so here,
> <http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/IgE/ni0YAA/t.2e9/of81WqdcReKl0n-siJBVrg/h6/WQ-2BlIwq7W2eCmkkcwbDiBSD9p4T6xn7Ql1kXw4yNstdc7FhkpTnQUj-2BO9hIke54jaOhmfRZYUBVXEDh8GqBUWQqoAj6LndYFbzj2JMDbFcVqHil6YBHaIwZV1x-2FSByU1woUR6ajEfC8NmwfFIT6-2BKr58SUKF9zBdmsxoXDuGZuveH74WPO23dBE69jIB40ej6VsJfzSy1BQRKUyWguoKYfAiSFz4wniOzDubP1j7He0ufx8BICVkvGg1xyeLBbnlSp1y2Tjv8XCDfUCNwQLLWE2SieCHTt5GAFb4eyIIVuk-3D>
> though be warned a donation comes with no tote bags or extra premium
> content or anything. Or you can support it by buying a copy of Out of the
> Ooze: The Story of Dr. Tom Price
> <http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/IgE/ni0YAA/t.2e9/of81WqdcReKl0n-siJBVrg/h7/AFSpcPAKtLe05LH-2FkbsgHzKvkIALSpRGa2nSzAnHk9CcNfXF-2FZJEsgHWaLbkaww4DHJLJjJyPEhEklfAlMmdNosOvsfYpUPYfJ7TVKGcgSYw7B0e6auAoflo46vER4A8yvLN7iIjdgeVOarJuV5NEh0U4hgnkpaoa078IbZkKqrcWawqgXJWbNWinFwLMl5DohN3bo4H9zAIoehBmRMYWDw1pV2Jqhem1fcVPw-2BG1syV-2FP92dlufF3GmJDDwPHc-2B>
> or Wall Street's White House,
> <http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/IgE/ni0YAA/t.2e9/of81WqdcReKl0n-siJBVrg/h8/AFSpcPAKtLe05LH-2FkbsgHzkpX84-2Bada6mA1tirDrELpBym0s55ZkmcvBgFiH6-2BQyTm93fXUmt5yK5BKkUhGl-2BUrCipPKtusqqnVU3LonSiQgYDG0Od7MOBtsHP-2FzGjXTRRNPUWtmHWlrZg6JdCZgtjAEUPwHQyZtIiWcy3jM2rlar65v9nSX0Uh7N27pBMMfVztsHKHtHObstkk17Yl-2F7JQox7hUWUwRou-2Fjq7hmaia8l-2Fgc2a6lkrpiZiI7WmdC>
> the first two books put out by Strong Arm Press, a small progressive
> publishing house I cofounded.
>
>
>
>
> Sent via ActionNetwork.org
> <http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/IgE/ni0YAA/t.2e9/of81WqdcReKl0n-siJBVrg/h9/55uI0ZjpoLA9-2FYhqE-2F4Eitwb7nFGaBM-2BttuyqSTdMS4-3D>
> . To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop
> receiving emails from Bad News, please
> <http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/IgE/ni0YAA/t.2e9/of81WqdcReKl0n-siJBVrg/h10/WQ-2BlIwq7W2eCmkkcwbDiBfTpRTONPBIO8v6WfDIYEh-2FyZMir5UYWpjCLk08DZOteZDMt2xpAtbC6tq-2BrVTt6IdZcAQj1-2BJbVqKu1ylXYyLmVFcDNeRQkqBa4Ie9aBlMdIKJsa719D0ZPYKzbZbkUTWUEMsxj84VimKQcHDsC0duj-2BBSYYZbDRmUS7eFFNKinQw-2FTYEfE5Je3Tvl32mBVezcKtqxx1KaU7egSkkJC2x4-3D>
> click here.
>
>
>
>
> <http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/o/IgE/ni0YAA/t.2e9/of81WqdcReKl0n-siJBVrg/o.gif>
>
>
>
It's difficult to understand how so many of working class Americans
can swallow the never ending propaganda that the USA is the most
advanced, free, democratic nation, ever. And to prove it, Donald
Trump is planning to return us to our Greatness...hmm...how do we
return to something we are already the greatest in?
Of course, working class Americans aside, we truly are the Greatest
Nation on Earth...if you are among that very small percentage of the
Ruling Class that is never affected by Market Crashes, or
Foreclosures, or unemployment, or huge medical bills, or crumbling
understaffed schools, or back breaking student loans that you pay for
the privilege of obtaining an education that graduates you into
unemployment. So if a government is put in place to defend its
citizens, and to work toward economic well being, and to provide a
safe environment, and to protect the rights of all citizens through a
legal system that upholds the nation's laws, for all citizens, then
the USA has failed most of its Citizens. But it is doing a fine job
for the Oligarchy, the Ruling Class, and for the advancement of the
American Corporate Empire(ACE).
Back when I was a boy and when ten dollars was a big deal, I was
walking to school, kicking the Autumn leaves, when I saw a bit of
green among the yellow and brown and red. It was a ten dollar bill!
Imagine! When your allowance was 25 cents a week, ten dollars was
like falling over a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Add to the
fact that I was a poor child from a poor family, the fact that I was a
Geeky looking kid, tall and gangling and sporting thick bifocals. I
was instant gratitude for all the schoolyard bullies. They would line
up, eager for their turn. But this morning I had ten dollars in my
pocket. Ten dollars! That money meant power. I knew that without
having to call up my congressman or any of his Lobbyists. No, I knew
just what to do. I slipped into Jacobson's drugstore and bought ten
dollars worth of candy. I told Mister Jacobson that it was for a
party. And it was, a big schoolyard party. As the bullies began
shoving one another to get a whack at me, I offered them some candy.
They all shuffled forward with shocked looks on their mean little ten
year old faces. But they took the bait. In no time at all I was
everybody's friend. And so, in that one moment of glory, I learned
the power of money. And the next day I learned what happens when the
money and the candy runs out. This message was so basic, so
fundamental that it takes constant hammering by the Empire's
propaganda machine...the mass media, to keep us off balance and
confused.
This job falls to the very people whom President Trump accuses of Fake
News. But Mister Trump, I've always known it was Fake News. The
difference is that you falsely claim the News is leaning far to the
Left, even as it is totally owned by your Billionaire Friends.
Together you play the news people for suckers, laying false charges on
them and tugging them further to the Right, through the fear of being
censored if they don't play ball. It's a cool scam.
The result is that many working class Americans have been
indoctrinated into believing that they are marching behind a leader
who has their best interest at heart. The rise of White Power,
unspoken as it is, becomes a powerful magnet "Christian Values"
bandied about but never lived up to, draw other confused Believers,
while always before us is the life lived by the privileged few,
promising that if we only work hard enough and believe strongly
enough, and believe in Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth
Fairy, we just might come close enough to live in a fine home just
down the hill, past the gates to the Master's Mansion.
And then we will live happily ever after...just as long as we can keep
everyone else living below us.
Carl Jarvis
On 1/18/18,
> From: Ryan Grim [mailto:ryan.grim@theintercept.com]
> Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2018 9:58 PM
> To: miriamvieni@optonline.net
> Subject: The stable genius shutdown
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> House Republicans celebrated this afternoon the passage of a one-month
> spending bill that includes a six-year extension of the children's health
> insurance program. That latter part is a sign that Paul Ryan is getting
> clever, and whenever he gets clever, his plan usually flops. It doesn't help
> Ryan that Trump himself helped negotiate this deal.
>
> The government runs out of spending authority Friday at midnight, and the
> Senate plans to take up the House measure Friday. Republicans need 60 votes
> to get it done, and they don't have it, so...that would mean a shutdown,
> unless somebody blinks.
>
> All of this inability to govern is having real consequences. Republicans
> added CHIP to the bill thinking it would get Democratic support without
> anything to help Dreamers. But they left a host of other crucial health care
> programs out that also expired, like CHIP, in September. (It's January!)
>
> The maternal-infant home-visiting program
> <http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/IgE/ni0YAA/t.2e9/of81WqdcReKl0n-siJBVrg/h0/3iaThca61p2tcSwqPS1jRrE2McMJ2W-2BEwW4z2Tq1gADRoxzW0eepe0uJAqsUK-2BzEOLmwHL4egUKTFSlaMYnspwgVks1eGLxP-2B76M4lSZLK0xv7VJhMchzFK3WG7wf6AzMJt854-2FjOhWRXAIAm7Sdn4Q6A-2Btfz6CNRvqdN-2Fb3yvwTY86zGjehIy-2FaQ1s1WoG1lakt0A1JO8N1P6C2HnHtFJpmwFcoS8iRBeBCfmsigsnkHxk9AHF3F71BWjaeLSxB4Eeg70FG-2BPhZggfeWC9QQ0NZwsCZBdggmh283B4KIesFBj10IJ7NuhQPvLFTvXn4Ez-2FfY1NtpQm6AU8czN9gSg-3D-3D>
> is cutting its rolls and can't hire staff, community health centers are in
> crisis, teaching hospitals are struggling: for no reason whatsoever,
> Congress is letting things just fall apart.
>
> (Why did they extend CHIP for the odd time-frame of six years? Because by
> year six, the CBO scores CHIP as saving money, so Republicans can stuff
> other goodies in the bill on the back of the program.)
>
> So after this Paul Ryan bill fails, will Mitch McConnell put a short-term
> spending bill to keep the government open for a few days on the floor? I
> think he probably will.
>
> 2. Speaking of Ryan's bill, I had a scoop this morning on it: the measure
> would allow the Trump administration to secretly shift money to new
> intelligence projects without informing Congress. It would be a break with
> 70 years of law and tradition.
>
> 3. The Trump administration has told Puerto Rico that it is too rich to get
> aid money. No, really.
> <http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/IgE/ni0YAA/t.2e9/of81WqdcReKl0n-siJBVrg/h2/3iaThca61p2tcSwqPS1jRn30UMOFbXr7qn-2B9F7Ct0A5qA6ib9RXrq30Vs-2Bw0cMyksX9gI7KcT5Fx1KG7QJszJk-2FgpgxXXkR1PUoUGvdVonRqGUuF9RxlSpopS5MdL58Kb3MWdd0FJCP7NBkF9rkrqY8XHOS9BFy6pEqK6nGWS0i6-2BRLDEEYtmmpe9l7CFVjJLw3LEfElx497KmL-2FjG96rtbVT532xJHk6WeCz1Jh1MEV3KPUIUjm0S6Yvh0OFEgaTpvJt2aV-2FypbhOnm3esZAGpS-2BVC-2BQz-2FUTsa9dGBR9P8-2BpFPUw8jETjJj1-2BaVRqlEUPMX26kqzRinbsPbbwtJfFgumZuXfYUPXVNb-2FzS0Cnc-3D>
>
>
> 4. A new report says that Border Patrol agents, going back to at least 2012,
> have been vandalizing and destroying humanitarian supplies left for people
> trudging through the desert. It's hard to wrap my head around that level of
> cruelty and indifference. Story is here.
>
> 5. If you're reading this Friday morning, part two of our investigation into
> the insurance firm Aflac is now published, check it out at TheIntercept.com.
> <http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/IgE/ni0YAA/t.2e9/of81WqdcReKl0n-siJBVrg/h4/3iaThca61p2tcSwqPS1jRq2hRli3UfegBoxYehO09Fpo5dSmnF7Z-2BFjU2ux2ZNGiuPRcKhu0iK4Sdjw4bNvz5meSc6Iyo89FMUTQsDg-2BypqqPH19YHmJd4FxpG37oP8MsTg-2BrF99h8zeh4hT7TeLhcxeTyM7FNBqZrIW1-2BVIJN0j4PT6wa7-2B7uGniflbyPYf6PbS-2BjrVrlSECr0dlLk8wj5sQlYvFFhVMUUVq2pieFM1VCasjHnI2WD6QU3Os6jf>
> This email grows by word of mouth. If you enjoy getting it, please forward
> this note to friends and tell them to sign up to start getting their own
> copy here.
> <http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/IgE/ni0YAA/t.2e9/of81WqdcReKl0n-siJBVrg/h5/WQ-2BlIwq7W2eCmkkcwbDiBbZZ8k6zBVQtuO7myuMWellrvTGlKo2hRPW3DyUOdDCHmcTPQ31WO3aDptkxO-2B170nUd19JW8uwbEe2CpTPArZgBirv55XUoSJFDL-2B2J3P1dkyLUQVqqr6e9mQYp7M-2BXaMum66jrbJMBHvAfVQj9oniPf9m4wK3abQuydw0LN8FIzYR8OTmJTGJr5aQYdqeU2Ro7GJZ-2B-2Bo-2F28fB97JhmpOODtweY7YeavWMpDcawKiSecTsfPFHGBE1KhrShe3qECQcUbhC1zfevVyQ-2B-2Bl-2F76g6FcFobmnOi5INlyImGwjoV>
>
>
> I'm the Washington bureau chief at The Intercept, and I send this several
> times a week. If you want to contribute directly to help keep the thing
> running, you can do so here,
> <http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/IgE/ni0YAA/t.2e9/of81WqdcReKl0n-siJBVrg/h6/WQ-2BlIwq7W2eCmkkcwbDiBSD9p4T6xn7Ql1kXw4yNstdc7FhkpTnQUj-2BO9hIke54jaOhmfRZYUBVXEDh8GqBUWQqoAj6LndYFbzj2JMDbFcVqHil6YBHaIwZV1x-2FSByU1woUR6ajEfC8NmwfFIT6-2BKr58SUKF9zBdmsxoXDuGZuveH74WPO23dBE69jIB40ej6VsJfzSy1BQRKUyWguoKYfAiSFz4wniOzDubP1j7He0ufx8BICVkvGg1xyeLBbnlSp1y2Tjv8XCDfUCNwQLLWE2SieCHTt5GAFb4eyIIVuk-3D>
> though be warned a donation comes with no tote bags or extra premium
> content or anything. Or you can support it by buying a copy of Out of the
> Ooze: The Story of Dr. Tom Price
> <http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/IgE/ni0YAA/t.2e9/of81WqdcReKl0n-siJBVrg/h7/AFSpcPAKtLe05LH-2FkbsgHzKvkIALSpRGa2nSzAnHk9CcNfXF-2FZJEsgHWaLbkaww4DHJLJjJyPEhEklfAlMmdNosOvsfYpUPYfJ7TVKGcgSYw7B0e6auAoflo46vER4A8yvLN7iIjdgeVOarJuV5NEh0U4hgnkpaoa078IbZkKqrcWawqgXJWbNWinFwLMl5DohN3bo4H9zAIoehBmRMYWDw1pV2Jqhem1fcVPw-2BG1syV-2FP92dlufF3GmJDDwPHc-2B>
> or Wall Street's White House,
> <http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/IgE/ni0YAA/t.2e9/of81WqdcReKl0n-siJBVrg/h8/AFSpcPAKtLe05LH-2FkbsgHzkpX84-2Bada6mA1tirDrELpBym0s55ZkmcvBgFiH6-2BQyTm93fXUmt5yK5BKkUhGl-2BUrCipPKtusqqnVU3LonSiQgYDG0Od7MOBtsHP-2FzGjXTRRNPUWtmHWlrZg6JdCZgtjAEUPwHQyZtIiWcy3jM2rlar65v9nSX0Uh7N27pBMMfVztsHKHtHObstkk17Yl-2F7JQox7hUWUwRou-2Fjq7hmaia8l-2Fgc2a6lkrpiZiI7WmdC>
> the first two books put out by Strong Arm Press, a small progressive
> publishing house I cofounded.
>
>
>
>
> Sent via ActionNetwork.org
> <http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/IgE/ni0YAA/t.2e9/of81WqdcReKl0n-siJBVrg/h9/55uI0ZjpoLA9-2FYhqE-2F4Eitwb7nFGaBM-2BttuyqSTdMS4-3D>
> . To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop
> receiving emails from Bad News, please
> <http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/IgE/ni0YAA/t.2e9/of81WqdcReKl0n-siJBVrg/h10/WQ-2BlIwq7W2eCmkkcwbDiBfTpRTONPBIO8v6WfDIYEh-2FyZMir5UYWpjCLk08DZOteZDMt2xpAtbC6tq-2BrVTt6IdZcAQj1-2BJbVqKu1ylXYyLmVFcDNeRQkqBa4Ie9aBlMdIKJsa719D0ZPYKzbZbkUTWUEMsxj84VimKQcHDsC0duj-2BBSYYZbDRmUS7eFFNKinQw-2FTYEfE5Je3Tvl32mBVezcKtqxx1KaU7egSkkJC2x4-3D>
> click here.
>
>
>
>
> <http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/o/IgE/ni0YAA/t.2e9/of81WqdcReKl0n-siJBVrg/o.gif>
>
>
>
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Re: [blind-democracy] America Is Spiritually Bankrupt. We Must Fight Back Together
Too bad such work as this is not required reading in our schools.
Carl Jarvis
On 1/15/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
> For all these people criticizing Fire and Fury, mostly because it makes
> everyone look bad and because it points out how many Democrats are
> complicit
> in the Trump administration, here's the real response to the book or
> rather,
> to what it portrays.
> Miriam
> America Is Spiritually Bankrupt. We Must Fight Back Together
> By Cornel West, Guardian UK
> 15 January 18
>
> The undeniable collapse of integrity, honesty and decency in our public and
> private life has fueled racial hatred and contempt
>
> We live in one of the darkest moments in American history - a bleak time of
> spiritual blackout and imperial meltdown. Exactly 25 years ago, in my book
> Race Matters, I tried to lay bare the realities and challenges to American
> democracy in light of the doings and sufferings of black people. Back then,
> I reached heartbreaking yet hopeful conclusions. Now, the heartbreak cuts
> much deeper and the hope has nearly run out.
>
> The nihilism in black America has become a massive spiritual blackout in
> America. The undeniable collapse of integrity, honesty and decency in our
> public and private life has fueled even more racial hatred and contempt.
>
> The rule of Big Money and its attendant culture of cupidity and mendacity
> has so poisoned our hearts, minds and souls that a dominant self-righteous
> neoliberal soulcraft of smartness, dollars and bombs thrives with little
> opposition.
>
> The escalating military overreach abroad, the corruption of political and
> financial elites at home, and the market-driven culture of mass
> distractions
> on the internet, TV, and radio push toward an inescapable imperial
> meltdown,
> in which chauvinistic nationalism, plutocratic policies and spectatorial
> cynicism run amok.
>
> Our last and only hope is prophetic fightback - a moral and spiritual
> awakening that puts a premium on courageous truth telling and exemplary
> action by individuals and communities.
>
> The distinctive features of our spiritual blackout are threefold.
>
> First, we normalize mendacity and naturalize criminality. We make our lies
> look like the normal order of things. And we make our crimes look like the
> natural order of things. We too often say Wall Street is a good servant -
> rather than a bad master - of the common good. Then we look away from the
> criminal behavior of big banks because they are too indispensable to
> prosecute.
>
> We deny that drone strikes are killing innocent people abroad. Then we
> overlook killing lists on Terror Tuesday at the White House, when a
> president and his staff can decide to kill people without any legal
> procedure, including, sometimes, US citizens.
>
> Second, we encourage callousness and reward indifference. We make
> mean-spiritedness look manly and mature. And we make cold-heartedness look
> triumphant and victorious. In our world of the survival of the slickest and
> the smartest, we pave the way for raw greed and self-promotion. We make
> cowardice and avarice fashionable and compassion an option for losers. We
> prefer market-driven celebrities who thrive on glitzy spectacles and
> seductive brands over moral-driven exemplars who strive on with their
> gritty
> convictions and stouthearted causes.
>
> Third, we trump the moral and spiritual dimensions of our lives and world
> by
> applauding our short-term gains and superficial successes. This immoral and
> brutal disposition reinforces - and, in part, is a result of - the
> all-encompassing commodification of a predatory capitalism, running out of
> control in our psyches and societies.
>
> The pervasive violence in our domestic lives and military policies abroad
> are inseparable from the profit-driven marketization of our spiritually
> impoverished capitalist civilization. And our civilization rests upon an
> American empire in decline and decay.
>
> Imperial meltdown is at the center of our catastrophic times. Our
> ecological
> catastrophe is real. The Anthropocene epoch engulfs us. Human practices
> -especially big business and big military operations - now so deeply
> influence the Earth's atmosphere that extinctions loom large.
>
> The potential for nuclear catastrophe remains urgent as US-Russia tensions
> escalate and other nuclear powers, like North Korea, China, Pakistan,
> India,
> and Israel, are expanding and restless.
>
> Our economic catastrophes proliferate along with grotesque wealth
> inequality. Our political catastrophes deepen as oligarchy triumphs from
> governmental dysfunction. Our civic catastrophes deepen as the public
> interest, common good, or even rule of law are undercut by big money.
>
> And our cultural catastrophes are often hidden - the vast and sad realities
> of trauma and terror visited upon vulnerable fellow citizens who are
> disproportionately poor people, LGBTQ people, peoples of color, women and
> children.
>
> The political triumph of Donald Trump is a symbol and symptom - not cause
> or
> origin - of our imperial meltdown. Trump is neither alien nor extraneous to
> American culture and history. In fact, he is as American as apple pie.
>
> He is a sign of our spiritual bankruptcy - all spectacle and no substance,
> all narcissism and no empathy, all appetite and greed and no wisdom and
> maturity. His triumph flows from the implosion of a Republican party
> establishment beholden to big money, big military and big scapegoating of
> vulnerable peoples of color, LGBTQ peoples, immigrants, Muslims, and women.
>
> It also flows from a Democratic party establishment beholden to big money,
> big military, and the clever deployment of peoples of color, LGBTQ peoples,
> immigrants, Muslims and women to hide and conceal the lies and crimes of
> neoliberal policies here and abroad; and from a corporate media
> establishment that aided and abetted Trump owing to high profits and
> revenues.
>
> The painful truth is there is no Donald Trump without Barack Obama, no
> neofascist stirrings without neoliberal policies - all within the imperial
> zone. Obama was the brilliant black smiling face of the American empire.
> Trump is the know-nothing white cruel face of the American empire.
>
> Obama did not produce Trump, but his Wall Street-friendly policies helped
> facilitate Trump's pseudo-populist victory. Obama's reluctance to confront
> race matters in a serious and substantive manner did not cause the ugly
> white backlash, but Obama's hesitancy did not help the opposition to
> white-supremacist practices.
>
> And, more pointedly, both Obama and Trump - two different faces of the
> imperial meltdown - supported military buildups, wars against
> Muslim-majority countries, drone strikes, the Israeli occupation of
> Palestinian lands and people, illegal imprisonments of innocent people,
> night raids on poor Muslim families, and inhumane detention camps. These
> war
> policies and war crimes have come back to devour what is left of America's
> democratic soul.
>
> So how do we respond to our dark times? The greatest tradition of prophetic
> fightback in the American empire is the black freedom struggle. The
> greatest
> tradition of moral and spiritual fortitude in the American empire is the
> black musical tradition.
>
> The artistic excellence in the best of black music - including the
> magnanimity and majesty of the sound - sets the standards for the black
> freedom struggle.
>
> These standards consist of radical freedom in love and radical love in
> freedom - the freedom to tell the truth in love about one's self and world,
> and the love of the truth as one freely speaks and lives.
>
> The Movement for Black Lives is a grand sign of hope. It is an exemplary
> collective effort to put prophetic fight back in our bleak moment of
> imperial meltdown and spiritual blackout. The prophetic vision and social
> analyses of the Movement for Black Lives begin with the most vulnerable,
> such as the precious LGBTQ people subject to massive trauma and terror.
>
> In this way, the terror and trauma suffered by the people in Gaza, Iraq,
> Pakistan, Yemen, and India (especially with Dalit peoples) are inseparable
> from the trauma and terror in Baltimore, Ferguson, Oakland and Chicago.
>
> Another sign of hope is Reverend William J Barber II, the most Martin
> Luther
> King-like figure in our time. His Moral Monday movement and now the Poor
> People's Campaign is, alongside people such as Father Michael Pfleger and
> his great ministry at St Sabina Church in Chicago, the Reverend Katie M
> Ladd
> at Queen Anne United Methodist Church in Seattle and the Reverend Michael
> McBride at the Way Christian Center in Berkeley, California, the last hope
> for prophetic Christianity in America.
>
> Like the Movement for Black Lives, the 8 March 2017 women's mobilization
> was
> a grand sign of hope. It shattered the neoliberal hegemony of the Women's
> March of 21 January 2017 over the "feminist" label. In stark contrast to
> the
> fashionable corporate feminism, boss feminism and top-down feminism of the
> corporate media, the 8 March women's mobilization put class matters, gender
> matters and LGBTQ matters at the center of race matters and empire matters.
>
> The historic moment of Standing Rock, in which indigenous nations came
> together in a struggle for sacred lands, self-respect and control over
> resources was another grand sign of hope.
>
> Race matters in the 21st century are part of a moral and spiritual war over
> resources, power, souls and sensibilities. There can be no analysis of race
> matters without earth matters, class matters, gender matters and sexuality
> matters and, especially, empire matters. We must have solidarity on all
> these fronts.
>
> As we fight back, we remember the great visionary and exemplary figures and
> movements of the past. These precious memories focus our attention on
> things
> that really matter - not spectacle, image, money, and status but integrity,
> honesty, dignity, and generosity.
>
> This focus locates and situates us in a long tradition of love warriors-not
> just polished professionals or glitzy celebrities - but courageous truth
> tellers who fell in love with the quest for justice, freedom, and beauty.
>
>
> e-max.it: your social media marketing partner
>
>
>
>
Carl Jarvis
On 1/15/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
> For all these people criticizing Fire and Fury, mostly because it makes
> everyone look bad and because it points out how many Democrats are
> complicit
> in the Trump administration, here's the real response to the book or
> rather,
> to what it portrays.
> Miriam
> America Is Spiritually Bankrupt. We Must Fight Back Together
> By Cornel West, Guardian UK
> 15 January 18
>
> The undeniable collapse of integrity, honesty and decency in our public and
> private life has fueled racial hatred and contempt
>
> We live in one of the darkest moments in American history - a bleak time of
> spiritual blackout and imperial meltdown. Exactly 25 years ago, in my book
> Race Matters, I tried to lay bare the realities and challenges to American
> democracy in light of the doings and sufferings of black people. Back then,
> I reached heartbreaking yet hopeful conclusions. Now, the heartbreak cuts
> much deeper and the hope has nearly run out.
>
> The nihilism in black America has become a massive spiritual blackout in
> America. The undeniable collapse of integrity, honesty and decency in our
> public and private life has fueled even more racial hatred and contempt.
>
> The rule of Big Money and its attendant culture of cupidity and mendacity
> has so poisoned our hearts, minds and souls that a dominant self-righteous
> neoliberal soulcraft of smartness, dollars and bombs thrives with little
> opposition.
>
> The escalating military overreach abroad, the corruption of political and
> financial elites at home, and the market-driven culture of mass
> distractions
> on the internet, TV, and radio push toward an inescapable imperial
> meltdown,
> in which chauvinistic nationalism, plutocratic policies and spectatorial
> cynicism run amok.
>
> Our last and only hope is prophetic fightback - a moral and spiritual
> awakening that puts a premium on courageous truth telling and exemplary
> action by individuals and communities.
>
> The distinctive features of our spiritual blackout are threefold.
>
> First, we normalize mendacity and naturalize criminality. We make our lies
> look like the normal order of things. And we make our crimes look like the
> natural order of things. We too often say Wall Street is a good servant -
> rather than a bad master - of the common good. Then we look away from the
> criminal behavior of big banks because they are too indispensable to
> prosecute.
>
> We deny that drone strikes are killing innocent people abroad. Then we
> overlook killing lists on Terror Tuesday at the White House, when a
> president and his staff can decide to kill people without any legal
> procedure, including, sometimes, US citizens.
>
> Second, we encourage callousness and reward indifference. We make
> mean-spiritedness look manly and mature. And we make cold-heartedness look
> triumphant and victorious. In our world of the survival of the slickest and
> the smartest, we pave the way for raw greed and self-promotion. We make
> cowardice and avarice fashionable and compassion an option for losers. We
> prefer market-driven celebrities who thrive on glitzy spectacles and
> seductive brands over moral-driven exemplars who strive on with their
> gritty
> convictions and stouthearted causes.
>
> Third, we trump the moral and spiritual dimensions of our lives and world
> by
> applauding our short-term gains and superficial successes. This immoral and
> brutal disposition reinforces - and, in part, is a result of - the
> all-encompassing commodification of a predatory capitalism, running out of
> control in our psyches and societies.
>
> The pervasive violence in our domestic lives and military policies abroad
> are inseparable from the profit-driven marketization of our spiritually
> impoverished capitalist civilization. And our civilization rests upon an
> American empire in decline and decay.
>
> Imperial meltdown is at the center of our catastrophic times. Our
> ecological
> catastrophe is real. The Anthropocene epoch engulfs us. Human practices
> -especially big business and big military operations - now so deeply
> influence the Earth's atmosphere that extinctions loom large.
>
> The potential for nuclear catastrophe remains urgent as US-Russia tensions
> escalate and other nuclear powers, like North Korea, China, Pakistan,
> India,
> and Israel, are expanding and restless.
>
> Our economic catastrophes proliferate along with grotesque wealth
> inequality. Our political catastrophes deepen as oligarchy triumphs from
> governmental dysfunction. Our civic catastrophes deepen as the public
> interest, common good, or even rule of law are undercut by big money.
>
> And our cultural catastrophes are often hidden - the vast and sad realities
> of trauma and terror visited upon vulnerable fellow citizens who are
> disproportionately poor people, LGBTQ people, peoples of color, women and
> children.
>
> The political triumph of Donald Trump is a symbol and symptom - not cause
> or
> origin - of our imperial meltdown. Trump is neither alien nor extraneous to
> American culture and history. In fact, he is as American as apple pie.
>
> He is a sign of our spiritual bankruptcy - all spectacle and no substance,
> all narcissism and no empathy, all appetite and greed and no wisdom and
> maturity. His triumph flows from the implosion of a Republican party
> establishment beholden to big money, big military and big scapegoating of
> vulnerable peoples of color, LGBTQ peoples, immigrants, Muslims, and women.
>
> It also flows from a Democratic party establishment beholden to big money,
> big military, and the clever deployment of peoples of color, LGBTQ peoples,
> immigrants, Muslims and women to hide and conceal the lies and crimes of
> neoliberal policies here and abroad; and from a corporate media
> establishment that aided and abetted Trump owing to high profits and
> revenues.
>
> The painful truth is there is no Donald Trump without Barack Obama, no
> neofascist stirrings without neoliberal policies - all within the imperial
> zone. Obama was the brilliant black smiling face of the American empire.
> Trump is the know-nothing white cruel face of the American empire.
>
> Obama did not produce Trump, but his Wall Street-friendly policies helped
> facilitate Trump's pseudo-populist victory. Obama's reluctance to confront
> race matters in a serious and substantive manner did not cause the ugly
> white backlash, but Obama's hesitancy did not help the opposition to
> white-supremacist practices.
>
> And, more pointedly, both Obama and Trump - two different faces of the
> imperial meltdown - supported military buildups, wars against
> Muslim-majority countries, drone strikes, the Israeli occupation of
> Palestinian lands and people, illegal imprisonments of innocent people,
> night raids on poor Muslim families, and inhumane detention camps. These
> war
> policies and war crimes have come back to devour what is left of America's
> democratic soul.
>
> So how do we respond to our dark times? The greatest tradition of prophetic
> fightback in the American empire is the black freedom struggle. The
> greatest
> tradition of moral and spiritual fortitude in the American empire is the
> black musical tradition.
>
> The artistic excellence in the best of black music - including the
> magnanimity and majesty of the sound - sets the standards for the black
> freedom struggle.
>
> These standards consist of radical freedom in love and radical love in
> freedom - the freedom to tell the truth in love about one's self and world,
> and the love of the truth as one freely speaks and lives.
>
> The Movement for Black Lives is a grand sign of hope. It is an exemplary
> collective effort to put prophetic fight back in our bleak moment of
> imperial meltdown and spiritual blackout. The prophetic vision and social
> analyses of the Movement for Black Lives begin with the most vulnerable,
> such as the precious LGBTQ people subject to massive trauma and terror.
>
> In this way, the terror and trauma suffered by the people in Gaza, Iraq,
> Pakistan, Yemen, and India (especially with Dalit peoples) are inseparable
> from the trauma and terror in Baltimore, Ferguson, Oakland and Chicago.
>
> Another sign of hope is Reverend William J Barber II, the most Martin
> Luther
> King-like figure in our time. His Moral Monday movement and now the Poor
> People's Campaign is, alongside people such as Father Michael Pfleger and
> his great ministry at St Sabina Church in Chicago, the Reverend Katie M
> Ladd
> at Queen Anne United Methodist Church in Seattle and the Reverend Michael
> McBride at the Way Christian Center in Berkeley, California, the last hope
> for prophetic Christianity in America.
>
> Like the Movement for Black Lives, the 8 March 2017 women's mobilization
> was
> a grand sign of hope. It shattered the neoliberal hegemony of the Women's
> March of 21 January 2017 over the "feminist" label. In stark contrast to
> the
> fashionable corporate feminism, boss feminism and top-down feminism of the
> corporate media, the 8 March women's mobilization put class matters, gender
> matters and LGBTQ matters at the center of race matters and empire matters.
>
> The historic moment of Standing Rock, in which indigenous nations came
> together in a struggle for sacred lands, self-respect and control over
> resources was another grand sign of hope.
>
> Race matters in the 21st century are part of a moral and spiritual war over
> resources, power, souls and sensibilities. There can be no analysis of race
> matters without earth matters, class matters, gender matters and sexuality
> matters and, especially, empire matters. We must have solidarity on all
> these fronts.
>
> As we fight back, we remember the great visionary and exemplary figures and
> movements of the past. These precious memories focus our attention on
> things
> that really matter - not spectacle, image, money, and status but integrity,
> honesty, dignity, and generosity.
>
> This focus locates and situates us in a long tradition of love warriors-not
> just polished professionals or glitzy celebrities - but courageous truth
> tellers who fell in love with the quest for justice, freedom, and beauty.
>
>
> e-max.it: your social media marketing partner
>
>
>
>
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)