Wednesday Wanderings

I believe that this recent victory by the Los Angeles Educators is
significant both in the long term benefits to teachers and students,
as well as an encouraging beacon to Educators everywhere.
But we must remember that it is just one victory over one community's
failure to uphold their children's future, and not the final victory.
As we gird up for the next battle, we should also question the reasons
we must continuously join the struggle to defend our children's
teachers, build decent schools, establish smaller numbers of students
in classes, teach our children to think, rather than to recite.

Greed messes up otherwise intelligent minds.
Crazed Capitalists push for an end to public education in favor of
privatization. Our children are not their concern, only the
opportunity to grab off even more of the working classes money. These
Greedy Capitalists turn their backs on the very public school system
that under girded our nation's rise to its current Super Power status.
You might think the capitalists would want to improve this successful
formula, rather than destroying it for an unproven private system.
But once again Capitalism stands firm, going for the bottom line,
Profit, rather than caring for the needs of the people.
When I entered college in 1954, I had never heard of Student Debt.
For one thing, fifteen hours(one quarter) cost me $55.00, plus books
and supplies. I worked part time, lived at home and never owed a
single red cent. And by the way, I worked for $1.25 an hour, and
still earned enough to cover all my expenses.
If our American Corporate Empire Ruling Class truly believed in its
people, it would know that our future strength relies on how well we
educate our young. But if the Ruling Class has no confidence in the
children of working class America, and cares only for the opportunity
to grab off all the wealth it can, then of course they will run huge
student debts. Think of a future where you exit college with
something like $100,000 in debt, with jobs that are paying wages based
on prices not seen in 50 years, housing costs that consume 50% of your
take-home pay, and the only housing you can afford means over an hour
travel each way to and from your job...a job that might go away or
turn into part time.
This is the future Secretary Betsy Duvos
and her greed possessed boss, Donald Trump are herding us toward.
But hey! The Super Bowl is coming up. Give me a call later on...in
between my three part-time jobs.

Carl Jarvis

Re: [blind-democracy] New York Democrats shower Amazon with $billions

Too bad the Working Class didn't have a voice in this matter.
This is a First-Class example of why we have so many people at the
bottom of our economic pyramid. It takes millions of working men and
women to support one multi billionaire.
But then, we working class folk must love being ignored. Just like an
abused wife, we keep coming back for more. Everybody knows it's going
to happen again. Our neighbors warn us. But like a moth to a flame,
we come dancing and fluttering.
Living close to "ground zero", I've watched how Amazon's expansion has
"Helped" the city's workers. Wages are stagnant, housing is out of
control, the general cost of living is easing upward. I have a son
and a grandson living on the outskirts of the city. They live a long
distance from work because they cannot afford to live inside Seattle.
While the average worker cannot afford to live there, the city is in a
downward slide. Garbage blows down streets, pot holes go unfilled,
street lights are out, both due to age and to rocks, fresh graffiti
covers old, and among it all live the street people. Seattle, named
the Emerald City, mocks its name sake. I was around, fighting against
the building of the King Dome. Oh, we were promised good jobs and
floods of money into our city's economy. Then, even before the King
Dome was paid off, we watched as the City Fathers blew it up and built
both a football and a baseball field. And despite all the glowing
promises, city schools continue to fall into disrepair, pot holes
multiply, garbage continues to spread, and tent cities spring up on
vacant lots.
But Amazon is not the first company to rob the city's citizens. Long
ago it was Boeing. That little airplane factory in Renton, on the
shores of Lake Washington. The city fathers continued to give in to
the Boeing demands, tax breaks, variances of all kinds, and the
city(meaning the working class) built sewers, paved roads and laid
cables to accommodate Boeing. Then, finally, Boeing demanded too
much, and Seattle refused to provide some improvements, and Boeing
picked up its Central Offices and moved its headquarters to Chicago,
where I'm certain the citizens of that fair town are profiting.
Yes Sir, Seattle is now bragging about its growing numbers of
Billionaires. But nary a word about the growing numbers of Homeless.
God Bless America, the Home of Free Enterprise and the Land of Opportunity!!!!!

Carl Jarvis




On 1/29/19, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@freelists.org> wrote:
> https://socialistaction.org/2019/01/28/new-york-democrats-shower-amazon-with-billions/
>
>
> New York Democrats shower Amazon with $billions
>
> / 18 hours ago
>
>
> jan. 2019 amazon (ap)By MARTY GOODMAN
>
> On Nov. 13, after long secret negotiations, two New York "progressive"
> Democrats, Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio,
> jointly announced that Amazon will place one of two new corporate
> "headquarters" in New York City and the other in Arlington, Va.
>
> Virtually kissing the feet of Jeff Bezos, Amazon's CEO, whose personal
> wealth is $166 billion, both Democrats have bestowed upon Amazon about
> $3 billion in tax breaks and construction grants, which include even a
> nifty helipad for its owner.
>
> Amazon is said to be worth a mind-boggling $1 trillion. Bezos, the
> richest man in the United States, also owns the Washington Post
> newspaper, worth $250 million and Whole Foods, purchased by Amazon for
> $13.7 billion in 2017.
>
> New York State offered $1.525 billion and the city is giving $1.28
> billion to locate in Long Island City, in rapidly gentrifying Queens, a
> short train ride from Manhattan. The Wall Street Journal reports a
> "condo gold rush" in Queens.
>
> Capitalist politicians of more than 238 cities had competed to secure
> the Amazon deal, offering an orgy of tax write-offs and concessions—to
> be paid for mostly by working people—totaling some $200 billion. In a
> bait-and-switch operation, Amazon sought detailed demographics of those
> cities only for later use in target marketing, after pitting each city
> against the other. Negotiating blind, cities were made to sign
> non-disclosure agreements, thus seeking to suck out as much taxpayer
> cash and concessions as possible from billionaire-loving Republican and
> Democratic Party politicians.
>
> For its part, Amazon promises 25,000 new jobs in New York City, with an
> average salary of $150,000, far above the average salary of the nearby
> Queensbridge Houses, the largest housing project in the U.S., where the
> poverty rate is near 50% and the average income is below $20,000. Amazon
> says it will spend $5 million in training. Another 25, 000 jobs are
> promised to Arlington.
>
> Billions in bribes
>
> The secretive deal circumvents New York's city council and New York
> State legislative oversight, with land usage powers at the state level
> seen as the only, although unlikely, obstacle. Governor Cuomo claims, to
> the outraged disbelief of many observers, that the rewards from Amazon's
> investment will cost New Yorkers "nothing," despite billions in bribes.
> State Senator Michael Gianaris, who represents Western Queens, said,
> "The state and city should be embarrassed. They got taken, plain and
> simple."
>
> Amazon will circumvent the usual land review process overseen by the
> city council. The secretive deal makes use of a state General Project
> Plan, an approach used in other developments like the colossal giveaway
> to the Atlantic Yards developers in Brooklyn (see below).
>
> Raymond Normandeau, a resident of Queensbridge Houses since 1973, told
> the on-line Gothamist, "It's pure bullshit. They're never going to hire
> us for these jobs. Only a country bumpkin like de Blasio or Cuomo would
> believe this shit."
>
> Enrique Peña, a Queens College student, told an Amazon protest that
> Cuomo's refusal to fund state public universities says, "We're denying
> education funding to hardworking New Yorkers." "So why," he said, "are
> we giving a huge tax break to the wealthiest man on Earth?"
>
> Taking on the corporate onslaught is a coalition of community groups and
> unions. Cathy Rojas, an organizer of a Dec. 16 rally against the Amazon
> deal, told the crowd, "Amazon's presence will further drive up rents in
> Queens, which is already experiencing the country's largest rent hike.
> It will lead to more racist harassment of local public housing residents
> and it will strengthen the power of anti-union corporations. Despite de
> Blasio's campaign rhetoric, he's helping New York City become a
> playground for the rich-and it's time to stand up!"
>
> Extensive investigation by The New York Times and others, reveals
> Amazon's work culture as one that encourages employees to tear each
> other down, rat each other out to the boss—working long hours and being
> held to standards that Bezos brags are "unreasonably high." Model
> workers are often described as "athletes." Its "purposeful Darwinism,"
> said one former Amazon human resources director.
>
> The mindset of Amazon has also attracted the attention of immigrant
> rights activists for the sale of its facial recognition software,
> "Rekognition," to ICE and police departments nationwide to aid in
> detention and deportation and to build a facial recognition database.
>
> Amazon, in its never-ending drive for loot, is believed to be seeking to
> take advantage of a section of the $1.5 trillion tax giveaway to the
> rich sponsored by Trump. The provision rewards investment in
> "Opportunity Zones" in the form of massive tax write-offs. The
> neighborhood in Long Island City is viewed as depressed and likely
> subject to write-offs for Amazon and other real-estate sharks, driving
> out working class residents and small businesses.
>
> Mayor Bill de Blasio: "Progressive Democrat"
>
> So craven was the role of Mayor de Blasio, a politician who has
> described himself as a "democratic socialist," actually had orange
> lights turned on in October at the Empire State Building, One World
> Trade Center, the Bloomberg Tower and other midtown locations, in what
> his office called "Amazon Orange," sparing no expense—or
> embarrassment—in luring Amazon.
>
> Indeed, many observers have noted that New York City, also home to
> Google and Facebook, was the obvious favorite all along, the bribes
> being corporate gravy.
>
> Running on a populist theme of a "Tale of Two Cities," de Blasio took
> office in 2014, after taking in most of the local left. Immediately, de
> Blasio appointed as NYPD chief William Bratton, an architect of the
> widely condemned racist "stop and frisk" policy. De Blasio pushed five
> re-zoning schemes, mostly in non-white neighborhoods, most recently in
> the mostly Hispanic low-income Inwood section of northern Manhattan.
>
> Enraged Hispanic activists and others blockaded streets and occupied a
> local politician's office, branding de Blasio's thinly veiled
> gentrification as "ethnic cleansing." Even so, the re-zoning passed in a
> City Council vote with overwhelming Democratic Party support (see
> Socialist Action, September 2018).
>
> Mirroring Governor Cuomo's deep indebtedness to big real-estate
> interests is De Blasio's love affair with developers who have destroyed
> much of the city's available working-class housing. In the early 2000s,
> elected "public advocate" Bill de Blasio backed the Atlantic Yards
> giveaway in Brooklyn to powerful real-estate developer Bruce Ratner, a
> donor to de Blasio's election campaign.
>
> Ratner went on to build Brooklyn's $1 billion Barclays sport center,
> employing the state's "eminent domain" powers despite sustained
> neighborhood protest. The cynical deal included promises of an
> over-priced "affordable housing" project of 2250 units, with "only" 450
> going to the better-off middle class. The "affordable housing" project,
> announced in 2003 and said to take 10 years to complete, is now to be
> finished in the 2030s.
>
> On Nov. 30, Mayor de Blasio was in Burlington, Vt., to latch up with
> Senator Bernie Sander's launching of a so-called "Progressive
> International." The concluding panel, which included Bernie Sanders and
> Greek social democrat Yanis Varoufakis (but not de Blasio), made no
> mention of capitalism as the root cause of war, inequality, and climate
> change—injustices they claimed to challenge.
>
> Socialist Action stands with the working people of Queens in their fight
> against Amazon. We join them in seeking to build mass opposition to the
> corporate raiders and their billionaire-loving buddies in the Republican
> and Democratic Party.
>
> Photo: AP
>
>
>
>
> Share this:
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>
> January 28, 2019 in Housing, Labor, New York.
>
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> ________________________________________________
> Jules Verne
> " Reality provides us with facts so romantic that imagination itself could
> add nothing to them. "
> ― Jules Verne
>
>
>
>
>

RE: [acb-chat] [blind-democracy] Re: Hatred, intimidation and make America white again

Dear Clifford & List:

What I have seen of Donald J. trump he has no opinion on anything. He is entirely driven by George Gallop and fellow Pollsters.

He describes his grievous falsehoods, as Alternative Facts. Some would say they are barefaced lies; however, you may not call someone a Liar in The House or USSS Senate.

He wants to set up a broadcaster to beam his propaganda at The People. Wait until he finds a previous Congress specifically prohibited Uncle Sam from doing this.

As a kid, used to listen to Radio Havana, Peking and Moscow et al describe US War Atrocities in Vietnam. They also explained how you hide roads under a few inches of swamp water.

Mentioned about the war atrocities to my parents. They said it sounded like Communist Propaganda. Couple of weeks later, decided to watch CBS Evening News on WBEN channel 4, Buffalo, NY.

Did not normally watch American news.

Lead story, presented by Walter Cronkite was exactly what the Communist stations had been broadcasting about for two years or more!

Called to my parents, having supper in the other room that if the stuff I told them about was Communist Propaganda, Walter Cronkite just said the same thing, less bombastic style.

My parents said if Walter says it, must be true!

In about a week or so, CBC TV and radio news was carrying the story. Guess some members of The House & Senate watched Walter's newscast. They began asking very interesting questions of the Secretary of Defense, he said he would get back to them on this.

Took a few days, however, he told the House & Senate unfortunately it was true! The MPs were investigating. There sure were many Commissioned Officers facing The Music at General Courts Martial, receiving demotions & long sentences served in Kansas.

One morning the Today Show mentioned the USN was re-commissioning the USS New Jersey to shell Nam. Story aired once, and then vanished. The Communist stations ran with it. Several months later, it was Headline News everywhere.

Sometimes if you want to know what is going on with Uncle Sam, you need to read Probda, Isvestia or Red Star. Probda is Russian word for Truth, Isvestia, NEWS; Red Star was the USSR version of The Stars & Stripes for their troops, sailors & aviators.

Alternatively, tune in Radio Moscow, Havana, or Peking. One evening Radio Havana played The Black Fly song written by a survey crew in Northern Ontario! Never thought I would hear that song coming from Havana.

I hope that The Democratic Party of the USA keeps Uncle Sam closed until:
09:00 AM EST, January 20, 2021. This is when the replacement for U. S. President will be inaugurated by the Clerk of the US Supreme Court and 1/3 of the Senate and a brand new House are all sworn in.

Friend of nine says The Joint Chiefs Of Staff will hold a Coop De Ta before the closure drags on that long.

If Uncle Sam defaults on his debts, his creditors like 800,000 unpaid civil servants, including many excellent lawyers, can file an action at the Bankruptcy Courthouse to force Uncle Sam into Chapter 7, 11 or 13. The Justice may have a sense of revenge, ordering the liquidation of Uncle Sam's assets, starting with the property located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC, then Air Force One, Marine Corps One, Andrews Air Base working his way to area 51 to raise enough funds to pay Sam's delinquent debts.

Perhaps some nice Russian Oligarch will buy the place on Pennsylvania Avenue.

As with other bankrupts, the stuff will be sold by Public auction on the front steps of the Courthouse. I will ask if they accept VISA! Would like to live in DC. Decent climate spring & fall, nice big lawn, helipad, nice view of the neighbors over on DuPont Circle.

Brian K. Lingard

From: Mostafa Almahdy via acb-chat [mailto:acb-chat@acblists.org] Sent: January 24, 2019 5:58 PM
To: blind-democracy@freelists.org
Cc: Mostafa Almahdy <mostafa.almahdy@gmail.com>; my blog carl Jarvis <carjar82.carls@blogger.com>; 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>
Subject: Re: [acb-chat] [blind-democracy] Re: Hatred, intimidation and make America white again

On 1/24/19, Clifford <clifford@tds.net> wrote:
> Dear Frank and List Members:
> You and I heard quite different accounts of the events involved here.
> It is my understanding that the catholic school students were on a trip to D.
> C. and most were wearing caps with a pro-trump initials which drew the
> Attention demonstrators in the area and that is was the demonstrators
> And a few under the influence who aggressively challenged the
> Students. The mainstream reporters initially put the same spin on
> This, which is reflected in your statement. It appears that school
> Age children are targets of the media, if they dare to wear a cap with, Magma on their caps.
> These are trying times and the "mainstream" media are a large part of
> The problem
> News should be factual and not simply anti Trump spin.
> Yours Truly,
>
> Clifford Wilson
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Frank Ventura via acb-chat [mailto:acb-chat@acblists.org]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2019 8:17 PM
> 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: Frank Ventura <frank.ventura@littlebreezes.com>; my blog Carl
> Jarvis <carjar82.carls@blogger.com>; blind-democracy@freelists.org
> Subject: [acb-chat] Hatred, intimidation and make America white again
>
> Now that the hour plus long video has surfaced of a group of Catholic
> School students engaging in multiple confrontations in our nations
> Capital the picture is clearer and worse than ever. There was a group
> Of black Hebrews loudly protesting the president's policies, namely
> The wall. The group of teens and their chaperones, wearing MAGI hats
> Loudly counter protested with build the wall and go back to Africa
> chants. At this point the confrontation was mostly peaceful with the
> Teens staying about 15 feet away from their intended targets. At that
> Point three Native Americans started playing their drums and chanting.
> This is where things took a turn for the ugly. The teens surrounded
> Them and started to close in their circle around them, blocking their
> Exit or retreat. Taking it a step further one of the teens, in a
> threatening move, took off his shirt and got directly within inches of
> The Native Americans who were powerless to retreat. While the apologists will be quick to point out that no
> Assault occurred; let us look at another crime that does not get as
> Much air time. It is called menacing. Yes, in many locales that is a
> Felony. It is to act in a manner, which would make the victim believe
> They are in jeopardy of injury or death. Evidentially those lads were
> Willfully ignorant of the legal consequences of their actions. If a
> Group of black, Hispanic, or Muslim males surrounded a member of the
> Privileged class or a police officer in the manner these lads did they
> would have been shot. Let us look at another example that occurred on
> This list. There was a theory set forth by some here who believe their
> Status as members of the privileged class allows them to forego
> tipping a wait staff. Those folks are willfully ignorant of something
> known as "theft of service", which is a very real crime in many
> Places. What these two aforementioned examples teach us is that when
> You are a member of the privileged class you can be as willfully
> Ignorant of the law as you choose to be; because in the end the laws
> do not apply to you. So like it or not, those fine lads from their
> Wealthy, plaid tie, blue blazer, embroidered breast pocket private
> School have become the face of the new privileged class and an icon of everything that is wrong with the ever-increasing socio-economic divide.

Re: [blind-democracy] Re: [acb-chat] Hatred, intimidation and make America white again

On 1/24/19, Clifford <clifford@tds.net> wrote:
> Dear Frank and List Members:
> You and I heard quite different accounts of the events involved here. It
> is my understanding that the catholic school students were on a trip to D.
> C. and most were wearing caps with a pro-trump initials which drew the
> attention demonstrators in the area and that is was the demonstrators and a
> few under the influence who aggressively challenged the students. The
> mainstream reporters initially put the same spin on this, which is reflected
> in your statement. It appears that school age children are targets of the
> media, if they dare to wear a cap with, MAGa on their caps.
> These are trying times and the "mainstream" media are a large part of the
> problem
> News should be factual and not simply anti Trump spin.
> Yours Truly,
>
> Clifford Wilson
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Frank Ventura via acb-chat [mailto:acb-chat@acblists.org]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2019 8:17 PM
> 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: Frank Ventura <frank.ventura@littlebreezes.com>; my blog carl jarvis
> <carjar82.carls@blogger.com>; blind-democracy@freelists.org
> Subject: [acb-chat] Hatred, intimidation and make America white again
>
> Now that the hour plus long video has surfaced of a group of Catholic School
> students engaging in multiple confrontations in our nations capital the
> picture is clearer and worse than ever. There was a group of black Hebrews
> loudly protesting the president's policies, namely the wall. The group of
> teens and their chaperones, wearing MAGA hats loudly counter protested with
> build the wall and go back to Africa chants. At this point the confrontation
> was mostly peaceful with the teens staying about 15 feet away from their
> intended targets. At that point 3 native Americans started playing their
> drums and chanting. This is where things took a turn for the ugly. The teens
> surrounded them and started to close in their circle around them, blocking
> their exit or retreat. Taking it a step further one of the teens, in a
> threatening move, took off his shirt and got directly within inches of the
> native Americans who were powerless to retreat. While the apologists will be
> quick to point out that no
> assault occurred, lets look at another crime that doesn't get as much air
> time. It is called menacing. Yes, in many locales that is a felony. It is to
> act in a manner which would make the victim believe they are in jeopardy of
> injury or death. Evidentially those lads were willfully ignorant of the
> legal consequences of their actions. If a group of black, Hispanic, or
> Muslum males surrounded a member of the privileged class or a police officer
> in the manner these lads did they would have been shot. Let's look at
> another example that occurred on this list. There was a theory set forth by
> some here who believe their status as members of the privileged class allows
> them to forego tipping a wait staff. Those folks are willfully ignorant of
> something known as "theft of service", which is a very real crime in many
> places. What these two aforementioned examples teach us is that when you are
> a member of the privileged class you can be as willfully ignorant of the law
> as you choose to be; be cause in the end the laws don't apply to you. So
> like it or not, those fine lads from their wealthy, plaid tie, blue blazer,
> embroidered breast pocket private school have become the face of the new
> privileged class and an icon of everything that is wrong with the
> ever-increasing socio-economic divide.
>
> Frank
> _______________________________________________
> acb-chat mailing list
> acb-chat@acblists.org
> http://www.acblists.org/mailman/listinfo/acb-chat
>
>
>


--
(Seeking knowledge is compulsory from cratle to grave because it is a
shoreless ocean.)

RE: [acb-chat] [blind-democracy] Re: Hatred, intimidation and make America white again

Hi Clifford,
Believe it or not, CBS News actually did a pretty good job covering this mess. They mentioned the questionable behavior of both the high school students and the black protesters. IMHO, there are no good guys here with the exception of the elderly Native American guy with the drum.
AS for the hat and what it says, Trump is in no way "making America great again." He is actually driving us closer and closer to civil war.
Bob Hachey

-----Original Message-----
From: Carl Jarvis via acb-chat [mailto:acb-chat@acblists.org]
Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2019 9:55 PM
To: blind-democracy@freelists.org
Cc: Carl Jarvis; my blog carl jarvis; 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.
Subject: Re: [acb-chat] [blind-democracy] Re: Hatred, intimidation and make America white again

It appears this subject has linked together both ACB Chat and Blind Democracy.
It's interesting to see that each of us bends this story to suit our own political bias'.
For the record, the Media referred to here, is the property of the American Oligarchy. The networks and the publishing Houses are owned by those with a vested stake in protecting the Establishment. Donald Trump is a master at manipulating the Media. Like a tornado, he has spun so many stories that the Media falls over its own tongues trying to keep up with him. Keeping America stirred up and turning different factions against one another is part of an age old formula for success...Divide and Conquer!
While we are bickering over who said what and who did what, the Ruling Class is busy battening down the hatches.
It's difficult to believe that the American Empire could keep a straight face when it announces that it is going about the world preaching Peace and democracy. Do we really want to point to our own national mess and tell the world that this is what democracy looks like?

Carl Jarvis

On 1/23/19, Clifford <clifford@tds.net> wrote:
> Dear Frank and List Members:
> You and I heard quite different accounts of the events involved here.
> It is my understanding that the catholic school students were on a trip to D.
> C. and most were wearing caps with a pro-trump initials which drew the
> attention demonstrators in the area and that is was the demonstrators
> and a few under the influence who aggressively challenged the
> students. The mainstream reporters initially put the same spin on
> this, which is reflected in your statement. It appears that school
> age children are targets of the media, if they dare to wear a cap with, MAGa on their caps.
> These are trying times and the "mainstream" media are a large part of
> the problem
> News should be factual and not simply anti Trump spin.
> Yours Truly,
>
> Clifford Wilson
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Frank Ventura via acb-chat [mailto:acb-chat@acblists.org]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2019 8:17 PM
> 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: Frank Ventura <frank.ventura@littlebreezes.com>; my blog carl
> jarvis <carjar82.carls@blogger.com>; blind-democracy@freelists.org
> Subject: [acb-chat] Hatred, intimidation and make America white again
>
> Now that the hour plus long video has surfaced of a group of Catholic
> School students engaging in multiple confrontations in our nations
> capital the picture is clearer and worse than ever. There was a group
> of black Hebrews loudly protesting the president's policies, namely
> the wall. The group of teens and their chaperones, wearing MAGA hats
> loudly counter protested with build the wall and go back to Africa
> chants. At this point the confrontation was mostly peaceful with the
> teens staying about 15 feet away from their intended targets. At that
> point 3 native Americans started playing their drums and chanting.
> This is where things took a turn for the ugly. The teens surrounded
> them and started to close in their circle around them, blocking their
> exit or retreat. Taking it a step further one of the teens, in a
> threatening move, took off his shirt and got directly within inches of
> the native Americans who were powerless to retreat. While the apologists will be quick to point out that no
> assault occurred, lets look at another crime that doesn't get as
> much air time. It is called menacing. Yes, in many locales that is a
> felony. It is to act in a manner which would make the victim believe
> they are in jeopardy of injury or death. Evidentially those lads were
> willfully ignorant of the legal consequences of their actions. If a
> group of black, Hispanic, or Muslum males surrounded a member of the
> privileged class or a police officer in the manner these lads did they
> would have been shot. Let's look at another example that occurred on
> this list. There was a theory set forth by some here who believe their
> status as members of the privileged class allows them to forego
> tipping a wait staff. Those folks are willfully ignorant of something
> known as "theft of service", which is a very real crime in many
> places. What these two aforementioned examples teach us is that when
> you are a member of the privileged class you can be as willfully
> ignorant of the law as you choose to be; be cause in the end the laws
> don't apply to you. So like it or not, those fine lads from their
> wealthy, plaid tie, blue blazer, embroidered breast pocket private
> school have become the face of the new privileged class and an icon of everything that is wrong with the ever-increasing socio-economic divide.
>
> Frank
> _______________________________________________
> acb-chat mailing list
> acb-chat@acblists.org
> http://www.acblists.org/mailman/listinfo/acb-chat
>
>
>
_______________________________________________
acb-chat mailing list
acb-chat@acblists.org
http://www.acblists.org/mailman/listinfo/acb-chat

Re: [blind-democracy] Re: [acb-chat] Hatred, intimidation and make America white again

It appears this subject has linked together both ACB Chat and Blind Democracy.
It's interesting to see that each of us bends this story to suit our
own political bias'.
For the record, the Media referred to here, is the property of the
American Oligarchy. The networks and the publishing Houses are owned
by those with a vested stake in protecting the Establishment. Donald
Trump is a master at manipulating the Media. Like a tornado, he has
spun so many stories that the Media falls over its own tongues trying
to keep up with him. Keeping America stirred up and turning different
factions against one another is part of an age old formula for
success...Divide and Conquer!
While we are bickering over who said what and who did what, the Ruling
Class is busy battening down the hatches.
It's difficult to believe that the American Empire could keep a
straight face when it announces that it is going about the world
preaching Peace and democracy. Do we really want to point to our own
national mess and tell the world that this is what democracy looks
like?

Carl Jarvis

On 1/23/19, Clifford <clifford@tds.net> wrote:
> Dear Frank and List Members:
> You and I heard quite different accounts of the events involved here. It
> is my understanding that the catholic school students were on a trip to D.
> C. and most were wearing caps with a pro-trump initials which drew the
> attention demonstrators in the area and that is was the demonstrators and a
> few under the influence who aggressively challenged the students. The
> mainstream reporters initially put the same spin on this, which is reflected
> in your statement. It appears that school age children are targets of the
> media, if they dare to wear a cap with, MAGa on their caps.
> These are trying times and the "mainstream" media are a large part of the
> problem
> News should be factual and not simply anti Trump spin.
> Yours Truly,
>
> Clifford Wilson
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Frank Ventura via acb-chat [mailto:acb-chat@acblists.org]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2019 8:17 PM
> 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: Frank Ventura <frank.ventura@littlebreezes.com>; my blog carl jarvis
> <carjar82.carls@blogger.com>; blind-democracy@freelists.org
> Subject: [acb-chat] Hatred, intimidation and make America white again
>
> Now that the hour plus long video has surfaced of a group of Catholic School
> students engaging in multiple confrontations in our nations capital the
> picture is clearer and worse than ever. There was a group of black Hebrews
> loudly protesting the president's policies, namely the wall. The group of
> teens and their chaperones, wearing MAGA hats loudly counter protested with
> build the wall and go back to Africa chants. At this point the confrontation
> was mostly peaceful with the teens staying about 15 feet away from their
> intended targets. At that point 3 native Americans started playing their
> drums and chanting. This is where things took a turn for the ugly. The teens
> surrounded them and started to close in their circle around them, blocking
> their exit or retreat. Taking it a step further one of the teens, in a
> threatening move, took off his shirt and got directly within inches of the
> native Americans who were powerless to retreat. While the apologists will be
> quick to point out that no
> assault occurred, lets look at another crime that doesn't get as much air
> time. It is called menacing. Yes, in many locales that is a felony. It is to
> act in a manner which would make the victim believe they are in jeopardy of
> injury or death. Evidentially those lads were willfully ignorant of the
> legal consequences of their actions. If a group of black, Hispanic, or
> Muslum males surrounded a member of the privileged class or a police officer
> in the manner these lads did they would have been shot. Let's look at
> another example that occurred on this list. There was a theory set forth by
> some here who believe their status as members of the privileged class allows
> them to forego tipping a wait staff. Those folks are willfully ignorant of
> something known as "theft of service", which is a very real crime in many
> places. What these two aforementioned examples teach us is that when you are
> a member of the privileged class you can be as willfully ignorant of the law
> as you choose to be; be cause in the end the laws don't apply to you. So
> like it or not, those fine lads from their wealthy, plaid tie, blue blazer,
> embroidered breast pocket private school have become the face of the new
> privileged class and an icon of everything that is wrong with the
> ever-increasing socio-economic divide.
>
> Frank
> _______________________________________________
> acb-chat mailing list
> acb-chat@acblists.org
> http://www.acblists.org/mailman/listinfo/acb-chat
>
>
>

Re: [blind-democracy] Re: [acb-chat] Hatred, intimidation and make America white again

It appears this subject has linked together both ACB Chat and Blind Democracy.
It's interesting to see that each of us bends this story to suit our
own political bias'.
For the record, the Media referred to here, is the property of the
American Oligarchy. The networks and the publishing Houses are owned
by those with a vested stake in protecting the Establishment. Donald
Trump is a master at manipulating the Media. Like a tornado, he has
spun so many stories that the Media falls over its own tongues trying
to keep up with him. Keeping America stirred up and turning different
factions against one another is part of an age old formula for
success...Divide and Conquer!
While we are bickering over who said what and who did what, the Ruling
Class is busy battening down the hatches.
It's difficult to believe that the American Empire could keep a
straight face when it announces that it is going about the world
preaching Peace and democracy. Do we really want to point to our own
national mess and tell the world that this is what democracy looks
like?

Carl Jarvis

On 1/23/19, Clifford <clifford@tds.net> wrote:
> Dear Frank and List Members:
> You and I heard quite different accounts of the events involved here. It
> is my understanding that the catholic school students were on a trip to D.
> C. and most were wearing caps with a pro-trump initials which drew the
> attention demonstrators in the area and that is was the demonstrators and a
> few under the influence who aggressively challenged the students. The
> mainstream reporters initially put the same spin on this, which is reflected
> in your statement. It appears that school age children are targets of the
> media, if they dare to wear a cap with, MAGa on their caps.
> These are trying times and the "mainstream" media are a large part of the
> problem
> News should be factual and not simply anti Trump spin.
> Yours Truly,
>
> Clifford Wilson
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Frank Ventura via acb-chat [mailto:acb-chat@acblists.org]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2019 8:17 PM
> 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: Frank Ventura <frank.ventura@littlebreezes.com>; my blog carl jarvis
> <carjar82.carls@blogger.com>; blind-democracy@freelists.org
> Subject: [acb-chat] Hatred, intimidation and make America white again
>
> Now that the hour plus long video has surfaced of a group of Catholic School
> students engaging in multiple confrontations in our nations capital the
> picture is clearer and worse than ever. There was a group of black Hebrews
> loudly protesting the president's policies, namely the wall. The group of
> teens and their chaperones, wearing MAGA hats loudly counter protested with
> build the wall and go back to Africa chants. At this point the confrontation
> was mostly peaceful with the teens staying about 15 feet away from their
> intended targets. At that point 3 native Americans started playing their
> drums and chanting. This is where things took a turn for the ugly. The teens
> surrounded them and started to close in their circle around them, blocking
> their exit or retreat. Taking it a step further one of the teens, in a
> threatening move, took off his shirt and got directly within inches of the
> native Americans who were powerless to retreat. While the apologists will be
> quick to point out that no
> assault occurred, lets look at another crime that doesn't get as much air
> time. It is called menacing. Yes, in many locales that is a felony. It is to
> act in a manner which would make the victim believe they are in jeopardy of
> injury or death. Evidentially those lads were willfully ignorant of the
> legal consequences of their actions. If a group of black, Hispanic, or
> Muslum males surrounded a member of the privileged class or a police officer
> in the manner these lads did they would have been shot. Let's look at
> another example that occurred on this list. There was a theory set forth by
> some here who believe their status as members of the privileged class allows
> them to forego tipping a wait staff. Those folks are willfully ignorant of
> something known as "theft of service", which is a very real crime in many
> places. What these two aforementioned examples teach us is that when you are
> a member of the privileged class you can be as willfully ignorant of the law
> as you choose to be; be cause in the end the laws don't apply to you. So
> like it or not, those fine lads from their wealthy, plaid tie, blue blazer,
> embroidered breast pocket private school have become the face of the new
> privileged class and an icon of everything that is wrong with the
> ever-increasing socio-economic divide.
>
> Frank
> _______________________________________________
> acb-chat mailing list
> acb-chat@acblists.org
> http://www.acblists.org/mailman/listinfo/acb-chat
>
>
>

RE: [acb-chat] Hatred, intimidation and make America white again

Dear Frank and List Members:
You and I heard quite different accounts of the events involved here. It is my understanding that the catholic school students were on a trip to D. C. and most were wearing caps with a pro-trump initials which drew the attention demonstrators in the area and that is was the demonstrators and a few under the influence who aggressively challenged the students. The mainstream reporters initially put the same spin on this, which is reflected in your statement. It appears that school age children are targets of the media, if they dare to wear a cap with, MAGa on their caps.
These are trying times and the "mainstream" media are a large part of the problem
News should be factual and not simply anti Trump spin.
Yours Truly,

Clifford Wilson

-----Original Message-----
From: Frank Ventura via acb-chat [mailto:acb-chat@acblists.org]
Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2019 8:17 PM
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: Frank Ventura <frank.ventura@littlebreezes.com>; my blog carl jarvis <carjar82.carls@blogger.com>; blind-democracy@freelists.org
Subject: [acb-chat] Hatred, intimidation and make America white again

Now that the hour plus long video has surfaced of a group of Catholic School students engaging in multiple confrontations in our nations capital the picture is clearer and worse than ever. There was a group of black Hebrews loudly protesting the president's policies, namely the wall. The group of teens and their chaperones, wearing MAGA hats loudly counter protested with build the wall and go back to Africa chants. At this point the confrontation was mostly peaceful with the teens staying about 15 feet away from their intended targets. At that point 3 native Americans started playing their drums and chanting. This is where things took a turn for the ugly. The teens surrounded them and started to close in their circle around them, blocking their exit or retreat. Taking it a step further one of the teens, in a threatening move, took off his shirt and got directly within inches of the native Americans who were powerless to retreat. While the apologists will be quick to point out that no
assault occurred, lets look at another crime that doesn't get as much air time. It is called menacing. Yes, in many locales that is a felony. It is to act in a manner which would make the victim believe they are in jeopardy of injury or death. Evidentially those lads were willfully ignorant of the legal consequences of their actions. If a group of black, Hispanic, or Muslum males surrounded a member of the privileged class or a police officer in the manner these lads did they would have been shot. Let's look at another example that occurred on this list. There was a theory set forth by some here who believe their status as members of the privileged class allows them to forego tipping a wait staff. Those folks are willfully ignorant of something known as "theft of service", which is a very real crime in many places. What these two aforementioned examples teach us is that when you are a member of the privileged class you can be as willfully ignorant of the law as you choose to be; be cause in the end the laws don't apply to you. So like it or not, those fine lads from their wealthy, plaid tie, blue blazer, embroidered breast pocket private school have become the face of the new privileged class and an icon of everything that is wrong with the ever-increasing socio-economic divide.

Frank
_______________________________________________
acb-chat mailing list
acb-chat@acblists.org
http://www.acblists.org/mailman/listinfo/acb-chat

Hatred, intimidation and make America white again

Now that the hour plus long video has surfaced of a group of Catholic School students engaging in multiple confrontations in our nations capital the picture is clearer and worse than ever. There was a group of black Hebrews loudly protesting the president's policies, namely the wall. The group of teens and their chaperones, wearing MAGA hats loudly counter protested with build the wall and go back to Africa chants. At this point the confrontation was mostly peaceful with the teens staying about 15 feet away from their intended targets. At that point 3 native Americans started playing their drums and chanting. This is where things took a turn for the ugly. The teens surrounded them and started to close in their circle around them, blocking their exit or retreat. Taking it a step further one of the teens, in a threatening move, took off his shirt and got directly within inches of the native Americans who were powerless to retreat. While the apologists will be quick to point out that no assault occurred, lets look at another crime that doesn't get as much air time. It is called menacing. Yes, in many locales that is a felony. It is to act in a manner which would make the victim believe they are in jeopardy of injury or death. Evidentially those lads were willfully ignorant of the legal consequences of their actions. If a group of black, Hispanic, or Muslum males surrounded a member of the privileged class or a police officer in the manner these lads did they would have been shot. Let's look at another example that occurred on this list. There was a theory set forth by some here who believe their status as members of the privileged class allows them to forego tipping a wait staff. Those folks are willfully ignorant of something known as "theft of service", which is a very real crime in many places. What these two aforementioned examples teach us is that when you are a member of the privileged class you can be as willfully ignorant of the law as you choose to be; because in the end the laws don't apply to you. So like it or not, those fine lads from their wealthy, plaid tie, blue blazer, embroidered breast pocket private school have become the face of the new privileged class and an icon of everything that is wrong with the ever-increasing socio-economic divide.

Frank

Re: [acb-chat] Time to Ramble!

Well, other countries have tried socialism, and its turned into communistic greed. Why we think we're so different is beyond me. Oh but we're Americans, we're better than them mean old Ruskis, right? Nope. In many ways, we as a consumer society would be worse socialists, because we can't give up what we have to the state, and when everyone owns something, no one owns it; it's no one's responsibility because some one else will come and fix it, it ain't my problem.

Am I a fan of how things are done now? Nope. I want a job, but nowadays you have to have a job to get a better one, and no one wants to hire some one with little experience, and all the blindness agency wants from me as a never-ending internship so they can have cheap Assistive Tech labor. Other than that, businesses are greedy. They want staff to fill 2 or 3 different positions so they don't have to pay many people.

> On Jan 22, 2019, at 11:25 AM, Carl Jarvis via acb-chat <acb-chat@acblists.org> wrote:
>
> Yes my friends, it's time for another Jarvis Ramble...do I hear eager
> panting? Or is it the sound of feet scrambling for the door.
>
> Carl Jarvis
> *****
>
> Capitalism by any other name is still oppression for the Working Class.
>
> Remember that sad fellow pushing the huge rock up the steep hill, only
> to have it slip past him and roll to the bottom? That huge rock is
> Capitalism. As long as we are forced to push Capitalism, any gains
> are temporary. A gain here and an improvement there, and just when we
> think we are getting somewhere, Capitalism slips past us and rolls
> back to that bottom line. Profit!
> All social services, not just for the blind, are doomed to failure,
> unless we conquer the basic problem. We cannot have both Capitalism
> and democracy at the same time. Nor can we support Capitalism and
> Social Reform at the same time. They are opposing forces, and neither
> will feel safe until the other is destroyed.
> Within the field of work with/for the blind, we see the same story as
> has happened throughout recorded history. Capitalism is simply
> another name for a System in which a few dominate the many. In its
> extreme it looks like America's South, during Slavery. Under another
> name it can be the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin.
> And today it is controlling America's working class disguised as The
> American Empire.
> One of my disagreements with Kenneth Jernigan, former president of the
> National Federation of the Blind(NFB), was over the direction he felt
> the NFB must take in order to influence improved services for the
> blind. Jernigan believed in a tight corporate structure with a hand
> picked board that was under the control of one man, Kenneth Jernigan.
> He believed that we must build strength in order to better stand our
> ground.
> I told him that when this happened, we would have lost our fight. I
> said to mimic a System that oppressed us would make us no better than
> they, and would eventually lead us to the same abusiveness that we
> were fighting. My last meeting with Kenneth Jernigan was in Seattle,
> over breakfast with Sue Ammeter, at the University Towers. It was the
> late 70's and I likened what I called "the wrong direction", to the
> mistaken belief that by "giving" Israel land on which to build a new
> nation, we were simply assisting the Jews to duplicate the same sort
> of oppressive government that Adolph Hitler had built. I am
> convinced that after this meeting, Kenneth Jernigan counted me as an
> enemy. Or perhaps he simply dismissed me as a nuisance. Jernigan was
> a master debater and was seldom bested. But he may have won out over
> me, and still lost. The NFB has become a Nation-Wide Corporation of
> the Blind, providing good jobs and rewards for those in Baltimore, but
> little change for those in the work shops and dead end entry level
> jobs. In 2020 the NFB will be 80 years old. Certainly life is
> different for all Americans. But how well have the blind really done?
> Aside from some secure government administrative jobs and a
> scattering of wealthy blind entrepreneurs, are blind men and women
> really doing better than those sighted folks around us? Do our blind
> children have an education that opens doors to success?
> Capitalism, in all its forms, must have a large base of workers in
> order to function successfully. As long as there is a need, we can
> gobble the crumbs that fall from Master's table. But when money
> becomes scarce and competition becomes fierce, there are no more
> crumbs. We are entering such a time. Even as America's Labor reaches
> for $15 per hour wage minimum, jobs are disappearing, Social Services
> are being eliminated or drastically reduced, schools are seeing
> critical staff cuts, military spending is expanded, CEO's are
> receiving super bonuses.
> That sucking sound you here outside is not a distant wind. It is the
> sound of our nation's wealth being sucked into off-shore banks.
> They say, "don't fix it if it''s not broken". Well, it's broken! And
> patching it, or shoring it up will not do. The Capitalist System must
> be scrapped, and a new, totally different System must be set in place.
> Whatever it is, it must be based on a "bubble up" model, rather than
> the same old "Trickle down" one. True democracy must replace our
> present Oligarchy. Belief that the workers are as bright and creative
> as the Drones now in power must be taught to our children. The
> Self-Serving Individual has to be replaced by "People Power".
> Cooperatives replacing Corporations.
> Until then, we're just spinning our wheels, we're just blowing smoke
> up our noses.
>
> Carl Jarvis
> _______________________________________________
> acb-chat mailing list
> acb-chat@acblists.org
> http://www.acblists.org/mailman/listinfo/acb-chat

Time to Ramble!

Yes my friends, it's time for another Jarvis Ramble...do I hear eager
panting? Or is it the sound of feet scrambling for the door.

Carl Jarvis
*****

Capitalism by any other name is still oppression for the Working Class.

Remember that sad fellow pushing the huge rock up the steep hill, only
to have it slip past him and roll to the bottom? That huge rock is
Capitalism. As long as we are forced to push Capitalism, any gains
are temporary. A gain here and an improvement there, and just when we
think we are getting somewhere, Capitalism slips past us and rolls
back to that bottom line. Profit!
All social services, not just for the blind, are doomed to failure,
unless we conquer the basic problem. We cannot have both Capitalism
and democracy at the same time. Nor can we support Capitalism and
Social Reform at the same time. They are opposing forces, and neither
will feel safe until the other is destroyed.
Within the field of work with/for the blind, we see the same story as
has happened throughout recorded history. Capitalism is simply
another name for a System in which a few dominate the many. In its
extreme it looks like America's South, during Slavery. Under another
name it can be the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin.
And today it is controlling America's working class disguised as The
American Empire.
One of my disagreements with Kenneth Jernigan, former president of the
National Federation of the Blind(NFB), was over the direction he felt
the NFB must take in order to influence improved services for the
blind. Jernigan believed in a tight corporate structure with a hand
picked board that was under the control of one man, Kenneth Jernigan.
He believed that we must build strength in order to better stand our
ground.
I told him that when this happened, we would have lost our fight. I
said to mimic a System that oppressed us would make us no better than
they, and would eventually lead us to the same abusiveness that we
were fighting. My last meeting with Kenneth Jernigan was in Seattle,
over breakfast with Sue Ammeter, at the University Towers. It was the
late 70's and I likened what I called "the wrong direction", to the
mistaken belief that by "giving" Israel land on which to build a new
nation, we were simply assisting the Jews to duplicate the same sort
of oppressive government that Adolph Hitler had built. I am
convinced that after this meeting, Kenneth Jernigan counted me as an
enemy. Or perhaps he simply dismissed me as a nuisance. Jernigan was
a master debater and was seldom bested. But he may have won out over
me, and still lost. The NFB has become a Nation-Wide Corporation of
the Blind, providing good jobs and rewards for those in Baltimore, but
little change for those in the work shops and dead end entry level
jobs. In 2020 the NFB will be 80 years old. Certainly life is
different for all Americans. But how well have the blind really done?
Aside from some secure government administrative jobs and a
scattering of wealthy blind entrepreneurs, are blind men and women
really doing better than those sighted folks around us? Do our blind
children have an education that opens doors to success?
Capitalism, in all its forms, must have a large base of workers in
order to function successfully. As long as there is a need, we can
gobble the crumbs that fall from Master's table. But when money
becomes scarce and competition becomes fierce, there are no more
crumbs. We are entering such a time. Even as America's Labor reaches
for $15 per hour wage minimum, jobs are disappearing, Social Services
are being eliminated or drastically reduced, schools are seeing
critical staff cuts, military spending is expanded, CEO's are
receiving super bonuses.
That sucking sound you here outside is not a distant wind. It is the
sound of our nation's wealth being sucked into off-shore banks.
They say, "don't fix it if it''s not broken". Well, it's broken! And
patching it, or shoring it up will not do. The Capitalist System must
be scrapped, and a new, totally different System must be set in place.
Whatever it is, it must be based on a "bubble up" model, rather than
the same old "Trickle down" one. True democracy must replace our
present Oligarchy. Belief that the workers are as bright and creative
as the Drones now in power must be taught to our children. The
Self-Serving Individual has to be replaced by "People Power".
Cooperatives replacing Corporations.
Until then, we're just spinning our wheels, we're just blowing smoke
up our noses.

Carl Jarvis

Fwd: [acb-chat] Wisdom or Folly, how do we know?

Just thought I'd share how I spend a damp, dreary Saturday morning.
Carl/Dad

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Carl Jarvis via acb-chat <acb-chat@acblists.org>
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2019 16:13:45 +0000
Subject: [acb-chat] Wisdom or Folly, how do we know?
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>

To All My Manipulated Sisters and Brothers.

With nothing better to do on a dreary January Saturday morning on the
Great Olympic Peninsula, I read several contributions by Mostafa, as
well as several very firm opinions from our conservative members. I
came to the conclusion that we are all victims of Manipulators.
We react negatively to emotion laden words like, "manipulated", but
isn't that a big part of how we Humans interact, both on a personal
basis as well as our interaction between government and governed?
What caused Cathy and me to decide on buying a Toyota Tacoma? Why do
I lean toward Progressive Propaganda? What caused me to proclaim
myself to be an Agnostic...but not an Atheist or a Buddhist or a
Christian?
Interwoven throughout that which we call, "information", are
deliberate efforts to manipulate our decisions.
The thing we should do, but do very little of, is to learn how to
reason...how to think...how to process what is going on around us. We
send our children to school to be "Educated". Some of us can afford
to send our youngsters to Church schools, or to Private schools that
teach the young to believe exactly as we do. Very little of what we
call education is teaching our children how to reason and how to
question.
How we adults handle the manipulation that goes on constantly around
us, depends on how we've trained ourselves to reason. Because we have
few "teachers" to teach us how to reason, we mostly must teach
ourselves. For most of us it is a life long process. It's far easier
to lock in, as Mostafa does, and declare that we have found "Truth
Everlasting", and look down our learned noses at the rest of the
world.
Actually, I rather like the "Trial and Error" method. But then I
always did like flea markets, secondhand shops and the Salvation Army
stores. Life is like walking into that huge Salvation Army store and
beholding row after row of interesting castoffs. By picking and
choosing, mixing and matching, picking up this or that and setting
aside an earlier item, we come to the checkout counter with an array
of stuff we would never have discovered if we'd not entered the front
door. Think of all those people who never enter. What dull lives
they must live. They head for the latest glitzy shop peddling useless
bobbles, never questioning, never looking behind the Wizard's Curtain,
never wondering where such a shop came from. Just willing to accept
what it offers, until told that it no longer is fashionable, and a new
Flashy Shop springs up.
In my opinion, through all of those Forces that have Manipulated me, I
find the Salvation Army approach to be far more interesting than if I
accepted going from one glitzy shop to the next, without question.
Those who mix and match, are far more apt to leave Life in better
shape than they found it.
Finally, I like to think of myself as a river rather than as a big
rock. The rock is heavy and secured to one spot. It goes on
generation after generation, solid, unmoving and unchanging. But the
river is never still. It moves. It passes through forests, meadows,
villages, and through canyons on its way to the Sea. The river
certainly has a far more interesting existence than the Rock, and is
far more likely to make life joyful and tolerable for those among whom
it passes, than the contribution of the Rock.
Well, I notice the open Sea just around the next bend, so I'll need to
be on my way.

Carl Jarvis
_______________________________________________
acb-chat mailing list
acb-chat@acblists.org
http://www.acblists.org/mailman/listinfo/acb-chat

Order of Selection: How our nation's priorities impact the Blind

Good Tuesday Morning, All.

How's everybody enjoying smaller government, so far?
I suspect that not many of us have been inconvenienced by the shut
down. Or have we? Out here on the Great Olympic Peninsula, we can no
longer take the back road to Sequim. The National forest roads are
potted and
oftentimes blocked by fallen trees.  But hey!  That's why we call it
"Wilderness".  Still, for us blind folk hiking the national forests is
probably well down the list of things to do.
But what about services closer to home?  The list is long, but I
thought perhaps looking at Vocational Rehabilitation Services for the
Blind might catch the interest of some of us...this being a site for
blind People, and all.

Here in Washington State, the Vocational Rehabilitation Program
receives about 80% of its budget dollars from the Department of
Education.  That's right, one of those federal agencies under constant
attack by our conservative congress.  This year, for the first time in
its more than 70 year history, the Washington State Department of
Services for the Blind, has seen its VR budget reduced to a level that
has forced the Department to go to an Order of Selection.  In plain
English, that is a Waiting List.
Any newly blinded person applying for services from the State Agency
will be told to "Get in Line!"  I could write volumes on the damage
placing a person on hold, impacts their chances of returning to a
productive, meaningful life, but those of you who have received such
treatment know what I mean.
Following the lead, our Independent Living Program was told that our
budget was immediately being reduced by 25%, cutting deeply into the
already thin layer of services to the Older Blind and Low Vision
People.
Before I leave the wrong impression, this is not a question of Big
Government versus Small Government.  It is a question of Priorities.
Profit or People?
Are we allowing our resources to be drained
away?  What can we do to assure future blind people a level of
services that will provide them with the opportunity for success?
Doing nothing is an effective method of supporting the destruction of
our hard fought Social Programs.

Carl Jarvis
retired director, Orientation and Training Center, Washington State
Services for the Blind
former assistant director, Department of Services for the Blind
Director, Peninsula Rehabilitation Services(1995-)
2510 Snow Creek Road; Quilcene WA 98376
360-765-4239
carjar82@gmail.com
*****

Order of Selection Information
article
The Department of Services for the Blind anticipates we will not have
adequate dollars to serve every eligible individual who will apply for
services in
the coming federal fiscal year.

For some historical background, the Workforce Innovation and
Opportunity Act of 2014 effectively cut the vocational rehabilitation
adult services budget
to 85% of what it had been.

The decreased budget - along with rising costs - have resulted in
fiscal projections that show we will no longer be able to serve every
eligible person
who requests services in FFY 2019. In order to meet our obligations
for all eligible individuals who are in planned services, we will need
to create a
wait list for newly eligible individuals.

Partial Shutdown, Order of Selection and Their Impact on the Blind

Good Tuesday Morning, All.

How's everybody enjoying smaller government, so far?
I know that not many of us have been inconvenienced by the shut down
of many of the services in our National Parks and Forests. Out here
on the Great Olympic Peninsula, the forest roads are potted and
oftentimes blocked by fallen trees. But hey! That's why we call it
"Wilderness". Still, for us blind folk hiking the national forests is
probably well down the list of things to do.
But what about services closer to home? The list is long, but I
thought perhaps looking at Vocational Rehabilitation Services for the
Blind might catch the interest of some of us...being blind and all.

Here in Washington State, the Vocational Rehabilitation Program
receives about 80% of its budget dollars from the Department of
Education. That's right, one of those federal agencies under constant
attack by our conservative congress. This year, for the first time in
its more than 70 year history, the Washington State Department of
Services for the Blind, has seen its VR budget reduced to a level that
has forced the Department to go to an Order of Selection. In plain
English, that is a Waiting List.
Any newly bblinded person applying for services from the State Agency
will be told to "Get in Line!" I could write volumes on the damage
placing a person on hold, impacts their chances of returning to a
productive, meaningful life, but those of you who have received such
treatment know what I mean.
Following the lead, our Independent Living Program was told that our
budget was immediately being reduced by 25%, cutting deeply into the
already thin layer of services to the Older Blind and Low Vision
People.
Before I leave the wrong impression, this is not a question of Big
Government versus Small Government. It is a question of the Bottom
Line. Profit or People? Are we allowing our resources to be drained
away? What can we do to assure future blind people a level of
services that will provide them with the opportunity for success?
Doing nothing is an effective method of supporting the destruction of
our hard fought Social Programs.

Carl Jarvis
retired director, Orientation and Training Center, Washington State
Services for the Blind
former assistant director, Department of Services for the Blind
Director, Peninsula Rehabilitation Services(1995-)
*****

Order of Selection Information
article
The Department of Services for the Blind anticipates we will not have
adequate dollars to serve every eligible individual who will apply for
services in
the coming federal fiscal year.

For some historical background, the Workforce Innovation and
Opportunity Act of 2014 effectively cut the vocational rehabilitation
adult services budget
to 85% of what it had been.

The decreased budget - along with rising costs - have resulted in
fiscal projections that show we will no longer be able to serve every
eligible person
who requests services in FFY 2019. In order to meet our obligations
for all eligible individuals who are in planned services, we will need
to create a
wait list for newly eligible individuals.

The 'Private Governments' That Subjugate U.S. Workers. by Chris Hedges

My personal experience has been as a contractor for the Washington
State Department of Services for the Blind. Very similar to the
examples Hedges notes. However, his observations agree with my own
concerns that we are becoming Subjects of Private International
Corporations, rather than Citizens of the USA.

Carl Jarvis

The 'Private Governments' That Subjugate U.S. Workers

 Truthdig

Corporate dictatorships-which strip employees of fundamental constitutional
rights, including free speech, and which increasingly rely on temp or
contract employees who receive no benefits and have no job security-rule the
lives of perhaps 80 percent of working Americans. These corporations, with
little or no oversight, surveil and monitor their workforces. They conduct
random drug testing, impose punishing quotas and targets, routinely engage
in wage theft, injure workers and then refuse to make compensation, and
ignore reports of sexual harassment, assault and rape. They use managerial
harassment, psychological manipulation-including the pseudo-science of
positive psychology-and intimidation to ensure obedience. They fire workers
for expressing leftist political opinions on social media or at public
events during their off-hours. They terminate those who file complaints or
publicly voice criticism about working conditions. They thwart attempts to
organize unions, callously dismiss older workers and impose "non-compete"
contract clauses, meaning that if workers leave they are unable to use their
skills and human capital to work for other employers in the same industry.
Nearly half of all technical professions now require workers to sign
non-compete clauses, and this practice has spread to low-wage jobs including
those in hair salons and restaurants.

The lower the wages the more abusive the conditions. Workers in the food and
hotel industries, agriculture, construction, domestic service, call centers,
the garment industry, warehouses, retail sales, lawn service, prisons, and
health and elder care suffer the most. Walmart, for example, which employs
nearly 1 percent of the U.S. labor force (1.4 million workers), prohibits
casual conversation, which it describes as "time theft." The food industry
giant Tyson prevents its workers from taking toilet breaks, causing many to
urinate on themselves; as a result, some workers must wear diapers. The
older, itinerant workers that Amazon often employs are subjected to grueling
12-hour shifts in which the company electronically monitors every action to
make sure hourly quotas are met. Some Amazon workers walk for miles on
concrete floors each shift and repeatedly get down on their hands and knees
to perform their jobs. They frequently suffer crippling injuries. The
company makes injured employees, whom it fires, sign releases saying the
injuries are not work-related. Two-thirds of workers in low-wage industries
are victims of wage theft, losing an amount estimated to be as high as $50
billion a year. From 4 million to 14 million American workers, under threat
of wage cuts, plant shutdowns or dismissal, have been pressured by their
employers to support pro-corporate political candidates and causes.

The corporations that in effect rule the lives of American workers
constitute what University of Michigan philosophy professor Elizabeth
Anderson refers to as "private governments." These "workplace governments,"
she writes, are "dictatorships, in which bosses govern in ways that are
largely unaccountable to those who are governed. They don't merely govern
workers: they dominate them." These corporations have the legal authority,
she writes, "to regulate workers' off-hour lives as well-their political
activities, speech, choice of sexual partner, use of recreational drugs,
alcohol, smoking, and exercise. Because most employers exercise this
off-hours authority irregularly, and without warning, most workers are
unaware of how sweeping it is."

"If the U.S. government imposed such regulations on us, we would rightly
protest that our constitutional rights were being violated," Anderson writes
in her book "Private Government: How Employers Rule Our Lives (and Why We
Don't Talk About It)." "But American workers have no such rights against
their bosses. Even speaking out against such constraints can get them fired.
So most keep silent."

Once workers sign contracts they essentially cede their rights as citizens
to the corporations, except the few rights guaranteed by law, for the
duration of the contracts. "Employers' authority over workers," Anderson
writes, "outside of collective bargaining and a few other contexts, such as
university professors' tenure, is sweeping, arbitrary, and unaccountable-not
subject to notice, process, or appeal. The state has established the
constitution of the government of the workplace; it is a form of private
government." These corporations, by law, can "impose a far more minute,
exacting, and sweeping regulation of employees than democratic states do in
any domain outside of prisons and the military."

These myriad corporate dictatorships, or private governments, ensure
American workers are docile and compliant as the superstructure of the
corporate state cements into place a species of corporate totalitarianism.
The ruling ideology of neoliberalism and libertarianism, used to justify the
corporate domination and social inequality that afflict us, sells itself as
the protector of freedom and liberty. It does this by subterfuge. It claims
workers have the freedom to enter into employment contracts and terminate
them, while ignoring the near-total suspension of rights during the period
of employment. It pretends that workers and corporations function as
independent and autonomous sellers and buyers, with workers selling their
labor freely and corporate owners buying this labor.

This neoliberal economic model, however, is defective. The relationship
between the corporation and the worker is not the same as the relationship
between a self-employed baker, for example, and his customers. The
self-employed baker and those who buy the bread appeal to mutual
self-interest in the exchange. "The buyer is not an inferior, begging for a
favor," Anderson writes. "Equally importantly, the buyer is not a superior
who is entitled to order the butcher, the brewer, or the baker to hand over
the fruits of his labor. Buyers must address themselves to the other's
interests. The parties each undertake the exchange with their dignity, their
standing, and their personal independence affirmed by the other. This is a
model of social relations between free and equal persons." (Emphasis by the
author.)

Once a worker is bonded to a corporation, however, he or she instantly loses
this dignity, standing and personal independence, especially if the job is
temporary, entry-level or menial. Relations are no longer free and equal.

"When workers sell their labor to an employer, they have to hand themselves
over to their boss, who then gets to order them around," Anderson writes.
"The labor contract, instead of leaving the seller free as before, puts the
seller under the authority of their boss." The worker either fulfills the
demands of management, which he or she has little ability to question or
formulate, or is reprimanded, demoted, sanctioned or fired. The corporate
manager wields total authority over the worker. "The performance of the
contract embodies a profound asymmetry in whose interests count," Anderson
writes, "henceforth, the worker will be required to toil under conditions
that pay no regard to his interests, and every regard for the capitalist's
profits."

Neoliberalism posits that the choice is between a free market and state
control, whereas, as Anderson writes, "most adults live their working lives
under a third thing entirely: private government." Neoliberalism argues that
the essence of freedom is free enterprise, while never addressing workers'
surrender of basic freedoms. Neoliberalism holds out the promise, which has
not been true since before the Industrial Revolution, that workers can
become self-employed if they are hardworking and innovative. We all have the
ability to achieve economic independence or become industry leaders if we
draw on our inner resources, according to the neoliberal mantra, one
popularized by mass culture. The neoliberal ideologues' solution to the
cannibalization of the economy is to call for fostering a nation of
entrepreneurs. This is a con. Corporations and their lobbyists write the
laws and the legislation, creating a two-tiered legal system in which
poverty is criminalized and we are controlled, taxed and punished. The
corporate oligarchs, however, live in a world where monopoly, fraud and
other financial wrongdoing are legal or rarely punished and taxes are
minimal or nonexistent. Among the population, only a tiny percentage-most of
whom come from inherited wealth and have been groomed in elitist,
plutocratic universities and institutions-dominate the corporate hierarchy.
Public discourse, controlled by corporate power, ignores this one-sided
power arrangement. It cannot address a problem it refuses to acknowledge.
Subjugation is freedom.

Anderson calls this corporate economic system communist-that's communist
with a small "c"-because these private governments "own all the nonlabor
means of production in the society it governs. It organizes production by
means of central planning. The form of the government is a dictatorship. In
some cases, the dictator is appointed by an oligarchy. In other cases, the
dictator is self-appointed." Private governments, their sanctioning powers
lacking the state's ability to imprison or execute (although they often have
internal security forces with the power to arrest), ensure compliance by
using wholesale surveillance and the threats of demotion and exile, plus the
potential rewards of salary raises and promotions. Also, there usually is a
steady barrage of company propaganda.

"We have the language of fairness and distributive justice to talk about low
wages and inadequate benefits, we know how to talk about the Fight for $15,
whatever side of this issue you are on," Anderson writes. "But we don't have
good ways to talk about the way bosses rule workers' lives."

American workers have never achieved the array of rights won by workers in
other industrialized countries. At the height of union representation in
1954, only 28.3 percent of American workers were union members. This number
has fallen to 11.1 percent, with only 6.6 percent of private-sector workers
belonging to unions. Wages have for decades declined or been stagnant. Half
of all U.S. workers make less than $29,000 a year, effectively putting their
families in poverty.

Workers, lacking unions and the ability to pressure management through
collective bargaining, have no say in their working conditions. If they
choose to leave abusive employment, where do they go? The inequalities and
the workers' loss of liberty and agency are embedded within the corporate
structure. It is impossible, as Anderson warns, to build a free, democratic
society dominated by private governments. As these private governments merge
into the superstructure of the corporate state we are cementing into place
an unassailable corporate tyranny. It is a race against time. Our remaining
freedoms are being rapidly extinguished. These omnipotent dictatorships must
be destroyed, and they will only be destroyed by sustained popular protest
such as we see in the streets of Paris. Otherwise, we will be shackled in
21st-century chains.

Chris Hedges

Columnist

Chris Hedges is a Truthdig columnist, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, a
New York Times best-selling author, a professor in the college degree
program offered to New Jersey state prisoners by Rutgers.

Climate activists debate how to reach zero emissions in time

I know I know, it's a Socialist Publication. But our Commercial Mass
Media is not debating climate change and our Human impact on it.
Carl Jarvis

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2019 09:58:45 -0500
Subject: [blind-democracy] Climate activists debate how to reach zero
emissions in time
To: blind-democracy <blind-democracy@freelists.org>

https://socialistaction.org/2019/01/10/climate-activists-debate-how-to-reach-zero-emissions-in-time/


Climate activists debate how to reach zero emissions in time

/ 14 hours ago


jan. 2019 climate boy (loretta florance - abc)
Climate protest in Melbourne, Australia, in 2015 (Loretta Florance / ABC)

By CHRISTINE MARIE

In early December, the Global Carbon Project published statistics
showing that global emissions of CO2 rose 2% in 2018 to a record high.
As Sean Sweeney and John Trent from Trade Unionists for Energy Democracy
summarized in a Dec. 31 article, "When 'Green' Doesn't 'Grow,' " the
market-focused approach to climate protection that governments around
the world have been half-heartedly pursuing has left humanity in a
situation in which there is no real decline of fossil fuel production
and use.

Emissions will fail to peak—as science deems necessary—in 2020, and
government subsidies to private investors to create renewables have
produced far too little. The gap, Sweeney and Trent argue, between what
science says must happen and what is actually happening grows wider
every day.

A special 2018 report, "Global Warming by 1.5 ℃" by the UN's
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that any hope of
limiting warming to a level that might prevent catastrophic changes to
our environment would require unprecedented shifts in land use, energy
production, industrial output, building, transportation, and the
organization of city life.

COP24, the most recent climate summit of global elites, which took place
in Katowice, Poland, last month, agreed upon no measures truly capable
of tackling this emergency. According to the climate justice lecturer
Nadja Charaby, the U.S. and Russia, with the help of Saudi Arabia and
Kuwait, managed to prevent even a symbolic acknowledgement of the truths
of the IPCC report.

In addition, the human rights plans developed at the previous Paris
climate summit, planks that call for funding to the poorest nations,
have become bargaining chips in a lose-lose game.

The industrialized nations have pledged to begin contributing an
inadequate $100 billion a year to the economically victimized nations
most severely impacted by climate change in 2020 but are delaying talks
on a necessary increase in this kind of funding ("COP24: No Response to
the Crisis," Dec. 24, 2018).

With scientists producing almost daily reports on the unexpected speed
at which glaciers are melting, species nearing extinction, the oceans
acidifying, and feed-back loops kicking in, the clear refusal of global
elites at Katowice to agree to stop fossil-fuel production and use has
kicked into high gear the climate movement discussion about what to do next.

The introduction of an outline for governmental action by the new
Democratic Congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has become a focal
point for debates about what the movement should be fighting for. Her
proposal, the so-called Green New Deal, has popularized the notion that
the necessary emergency transition to the goal of 100% renewable energy
by 2030 and a just transition for workers, can (1) only be successfully
carried out by the federal government and (2) that public financing will
be key to its success.

The mainstreaming of these key ideas, once only talked about in a small
wing of the environmental movement, has stimulated and given confidence
to new layers of activists. The movement discussion now includes
critiquing the specific and limited GND proposal put out by Ocasio-Cortez.

First to challenge the ambiguity of the GND proposals to end fossil fuel
production was Wenonah Hauter of Food & Water Watch. In "The Lessons
from a Burning Paris," she argued, "Any Green New Deal that includes
carbon pricing isn't green, isn't new, and isn't much of a deal."
Regressive carbon taxes or fee and dividend schemes don't work; they
only penalize the working class. The real path to getting rid of fossil
fuels, she said, is simple. It means a moratorium on new fossil fuel
extraction and infrastructure.

Activists from global climate justice groups, the Green Party, and the
peace movement noted the failure of the GND to even mention the
Pentagon, which is the single largest institutional consumer of fossil
fuels and the largest single contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
Wars for fossil fuel resources are soon to become intertwined with wars
to keep climate refugees out of the richest nations. The billions
flowing to the Pentagon are an obvious source for funding an emergency
transition. Posing warming as a "security issue," as does Ocasio-Cortez,
opens the door for terrifying elite solutions to the economic
disruptions and mass migrations that climate change is producing.

One of the goals in the GND that has sparked the most disapproval is
"making "green" technology, industry, expertise, products, and services
a major export of the United States, with the aim of becoming the
undisputed international leader in helping other countries transition to
completely greenhouse gas neutral economies and bringing about a global
Green New Deal." That is, Ocasio-Cortez is proposing a solution in which
U.S. corporations produce unspecified types of technology and make a
profit selling them to the less developed world. This goal makes all the
passages in the GND that are ambiguous about the means of achieving the
transition look ominous. To what degree is the public financing in the
GND going to go to give incentives to private industry rather than using
the money to efficiently and directly carry out the emergency transition?

The very title of the project, "Green New Deal," suggests that this is
the course imagined. Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, despite the
mythology, was designed to prop up, not replace, the private banks and
industrial enterprises that were responsible for the Great Depression.
Very few incursions against capital ever took place and the aid to
unemployed workers was actually quite stingy. (See: "The Real Deal on
the 'New Deal,'" Socialist Action, December 2005,
https://socialistaction.org/2005/12/03/the-real-deal-on-the-new-deal/).

Trade Unionists for Energy Democracy has proven that public private
partnerships have failed to achieve climate goals even in the energy
industry. Only public ownership and democratic control of the entire
energy system can begin to give us the power to transition quickly and
completely enough. In truth, given that equally dramatic changes in
agriculture, transportation, and most industry will be necessary to
truly achieve carbon neutral emissions in the next twelve years, an
unambiguous drive to push beyond the prerogatives of capital must be the
orientation of the climate justice movement.

This points to the most fundamental weakness of the Ocasio-Cortez Green
New Deal project. John Qua, an organizer with the Sunrise Movement, a
youth group carrying out direct action in support of the Green New Deal,
has explained clearly that current promotion of the GND and the
mobilizations directed at getting legislators to sign on, are designed
to lay the groundwork for the campaigns of progressive candidates in the
2020 elections.

The practical activity proposed by the Sunrise Movement to other climate
activists is calling legislators. Later, these same activists will be
asked to campaign for Democratic candidates. The whole project is
designed to convince activists that their energy should be directed
toward preparing for the coming elections. Dramatic social change on the
scale required to save humanity and the planet however, has never come
through electoral activity. The abolition of slavery and other dramatic
social transformations have only come through mass independent
mobilizations independent of the big business political parties.

That this will be true in the face of climate emergency should be clear
by looking at the record of the Obama presidency. According to Carol
Dansereau, author of "Climate and the Infernal Blue Wave" (Nov. 13,
2018), under the supposedly climate friendly Obama regime, government
facilitated the biggest increase in oil production in U.S. history,
dramatically expanded natural gas production, avidly promoted fracking,
expanded pipeline construction by 20%, opened up more than 75% of U.S.
potential oil resources offshore, allowed coal leases that are
equivalent to 200 new coal-fired plants, and increased U.S. oil exports
by 1000 percent.

The reforms of the Roosevelt New Deal that actually benefited working
people, including the implementation of Social Security, were only put
in place because millions of workers and farmers undertook militant
action in industry, against landlords, and for social services and aid.

Today, we are not only faced with an impending economic downturn but
with a serious threat to the planet and human life itself. The
Democratic Party has never taken on private profiteers in the manner
needed today. The only way forward is the construction of a massive
movement—reliant only on ourselves.

We must use the power of labor, the power of community organization, and
create new institutions in which the movement can strategize to defeat
the most powerful economic interests that have ever existed. Let's take
the discussion stimulated by the Green New Deal into these as yet
uncharted waters now.




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January 10, 2019 in Environment. Tags: climate


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________________________________________________
Jules Verne
" Reality provides us with facts so romantic that imagination itself
could add nothing to them. "
― Jules Verne