STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL: WHAT BETSY DEVOS DOESN’T WANT TO KNOW

Betsy DeVos, the Trump-appointed Secretary of Education, and a major Trump campaign donor, doesn’t know very much about education. This is not gossip, it is fact. She is known for her support of campaigns to create and support charter schools and private schools, rather than public schools. She is an ignorant person, with an agenda.

The death-by-gun tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida has grabbed the attention of America and the rest of the world not just because of the horrifying tragedy, but because of the students who survived. These “kids” - and I use that term in quotes because, in many ways, they are more grown up than many of the adults in the room - have drawn a bold red line and declared ENOUGH! They are poised, articulate, knowledgable and a new, formidible force in the decades-old gun control debate.

What Betsy DeVoss does not want to know, and will certainly not acknowledge, is that these are public school kids. Stoneman Douglas High School is in a wealthier area than many American schools. This translates into more extracurricular activities and opportunities, such as drama, debate, journalism and public speaking. These kids were ready to be in front of cameras and journalists, were ready to go toe-to-toe with politicians (like Sen. Marco Rubio), were ready to lead a movement because of the education they have. The irony is not lost that students in public schools, where the Trump administration is reducing resources, have taken on the Trump administration and its sycophants in the gun control debate, a debate in which the Trumpsters and the GOP are beholden to the gun lobby.

The lesson here is simple: stop cutting funding for public schools and start putting resources into all public schools if we want knowledgable, articulate and poised adults in the future.

Slate had an excellent article on this topic.

Sorry Betsy, you’re a loser!
—-

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS DON'T KNOW THE RULES OF POLITICS

Cameron Kasky, a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student, asked Senator Marco Rubio a question during the CNN town hall following the killings at the school. It is obvious from the video that Mr. Kasky does not understand the rules of politics. Every journalist knows these rules. A primary rule is that if you ask a politician a question she or he does not want to answer, she or he will execute a pivot, change the topic to something he or she wants to talk about (usually a comfortable and well-rehearsed talking point). If the journalist asks the question a second time, and the politician again pivots, the rule is that you move on to another question.

It is interesting to watch what happens when Sen. Rubio realizes that Mr. Kasky does not know the rules. Rubio pivots, Kasky asks the same question, Rubio pivots, Kasky asks the same question, Rubio pivots, Kasky asks the same question.....until finally, Mr. Kasky says that the answer is obvious.

Watch this interaction here, and watch Senator Rubio squirm.

The problem here is that Mr. Kasky and the rest of the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have not received a good education and learned the rules of politics. And that's another failure of public schools!

---

GUN VIOLENCE IN AMERICA: THIS CORNER WILL BE TURNED!

I am having difficulty typing because my eyes are filled with tears. Tears of sorrow; tears of pride.

We joined family, friends and many thousands of neighbors today in downtown Portland in the March for Our Lives. Hundreds of thousands of people all across America joined with student leaders, young people who will no longer accept the death toll from guns. These children, and I do not think of them as children, are demanding an end to the fear and killing by guns. Their rallying cries of "ENOUGH!" and "NEVER AGAIN!" reverberate in the ears of America. They do not and will not take "no" for an answer from politicians, calling "B.S." to the things that we all know to be B.S. They are angry, they are empowered, they can't understand why the "grownups" have done nothing for so long. And they are finally taking it into their own hands to make change that is so long overdue.

I have been watching some of the student speeches from the Washington, D.C. rally earlier today. I am blown away by the passion and intelligence of every one of these young people, from the 11 year olds to the 18 year olds, women and men, of every background. Their strength amazes me, their fierceness cheers me, their solidarity encourages me.

The pain these children feel and experience is also at the surface. They are survivors, of killings in their schools and in their neighborhoods. Many have stories of family and friends who were felled by bullets. The tears are there, often barely contained. One amazing young woman, a high school senior from south Los Angeles, told how she learned to duck from bullets before she learned to read, and before her brother was killed by a bullet. A young man from Chicago told of his nephew who died from a bullet, and of the number of killings by gun in his city. Teens from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida told their stories, shouted out the names of fallen friends, and demanded an end to the violence.

These kids are a force to be reckoned with, and they truly have politicians scurrying for cover. They will not accept the status quo, the business as usual in the halls of Congress, the kowtowing to the gun lobby. It's different this time, and the young people are leading the fight.

My tears of sorrow are for kids everywhere who have to go through safety drills for the very real chance that a shooter enters their school. My tears of sorrow are for kids who have to grow up in neighborhoods where gun violence is the norm, where so many have family and friends who have been killed by gun violence, where schools become security sites with armed guards. This is not OK; this is not right; this has to change. These kids know that every dollar spent on building a "big, beautiful wall" or more unneeded weapons of war, or more profits and perks for the wealthy are dollars not being spent on education, mentoring, job creation, housing, schools and health care for Americans who need these. They understand this, they are not ignorant; in fact, they understand a lot more than many adults.

My tears of pride are for these brave, wonderful, beautiful children - these amazing young people - who have started a revolution to end the gun violence in America, and beyond. This revolution is long overdue, and the "adults" in the room better join or be swept out of the way. For the times they are a'changing!

---

FACEBOOK LOSING FACE

Perhaps it was inevitable. The social media giant Facebook is in trouble (again) for how user's personal data is protected or not. I have always questioned the term "social media" because these media are not really built for socialization but are built to monetize users. "Facebook has built its highly profitable social network off its users, selling advertisements based on their ages, interests and other details" (NY Times). Sure, Facebook users socialize on the platform, but they also provide mountains of data about themselves that are sold and bought and sold and bought by myriad companies to use for targeted advertising, including political uses. The recent flap involving possibly unauthorized use of personal data by Cambridge Analytica to influence voters raises many concerns by users, regulators and analysts.

I've wondered if a time would come when Facebook is no longer relevant or desirable. Could the Facebook empire come tumbling down if some new upstart offered a non-intrusive way to socialize on the internet? It could happen. What if a non-profit organization offered inexpensive subscriptions to a social media platform that did not harvest user data because it ran solely on subscription revenues and donations? There are already models for this.

Think about it, Facebook has 2.2 billion active monthly users. If Facebook charged $5 per month and guaranteed not to harvest user data (except those data needed to operate and improve the service) and never to sell or share the data, they would have an annual revenue of $132 billion. If only half that number of users paid the subscription, it would generate annual revenue of $66 billion. Does any company need more than that to operate?

I'll ask you to think about it, again. If the purpose of the "social network" Facebook is to provide a real-time service on which people can socialize, then any amount of profit is good because it keeps the doors open and provides capital for operations and improvements. If, on the other hand, the purpose of Facebook is to make as much profit as possible, then they are doing a good job now.

Here is a graphic:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/277229/facebooks-annual-revenue-and-net-income/

For 2017, Facebook had $40.653 billion in revenue, and $15.954 billion profit (net income). The majority of Facebook income is from advertising; in other words, harvesting data about you and selling it to advertisers.

So, I am looking forward to the true social network app that does not harvest user data, does not push advertising to users, and is open and transparent. I would gladly pay $5 or more per month for this service. Remember, there is no such thing as a free lunch, there is always a cost. We should not expect to get internet services for free, and we don't.

---

THIS IS SO NOT PRESIDENTIAL

America - what kind of man do you have in the position of President?

(below: tweet by Donald Trump)
——————————-
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy. Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!
9:08 PM - Mar 16, 2018
———————————

SHITSTORM IN THE WHITE HOUSE: SEASON 2

Shitstorm in the White House: Season 2

• All new episodes; each more bizarre than the previous.
• The Donald tells even more lies than in Season 1.
• More Tweet Firings!
• Gathering porny Stormy clouds cast a shadow on the Donald. Will his cover be blown?
• Will the First Lady become the Third Lady left in the dust?
• More trouble for The Donald's spawn and spawn-in-law.
• Marvel at the number and pace of Cabinet replacements.
• Will The Donald meet face-to-face with The Un Donald? Will they match button sizes?
• How long can The Donald keep his head up Putin's butt?
• How long can the GOP members of Congress keep their heads up The Donald's butt?
• Watch in amazement as, episode after episode, American allies turn away.
• Will the ghost of Bannon appear to haunt The Donald, as promised?
• How much more fake news will The Donald tolerate before he has all journalists deported? 
• Will there be a Wall? Will it be Big? Will it be Beautiful? Will Mexico pay for it at last, in pesos?
• What will become of the mystery Mueller? 
• Watch for a surprise collusion conclusion! 
• Watch as Scary Huckleberry Sandbagger runs out of ways to spin.
• Don't miss a single episode!

New episodes will be run daily on every channel, everywhere you look. 

REX OUT, MIKE IN: THIS IS BAD NEWS

I was not a big fan of Rex Tillerson as U.S. Secretary of State; he had no government diplomatic experience, was very aloof within the agency, and was making drastic cuts. HOWEVER, Rex looks good compared to Mike Pompeo. One thing Rex brought to the job was an understanding that diplomacy should almost always be the first option, and he tried many times to sway Trump away from reactive Trumpism. He did not agree with the president on numerous positions; we know this from Twitter Trump himself. And hey, Rex was spot on when he purportedly called Trump a "fucking moron."

Mike Pompeo is a different breed altogether. He is a dyed-in-the-wool hard-line hawk. He was a Tea Party congressman. He and Trump seem pressed from the same mold. He, like Trump, is against the nuclear deal with Iran, will not give any concessions to the North Koreans in order to advance peace, is anti-trade agreement and anti-immigrant, and agrees with moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem now.

We have learned that Pompeo personally took the morning intelligence briefings to the White House very often and read them to The Donald. It seems the two men have become very close. It would not surprise me if Pompeo was in on the idea to have Trump meet with Kim Jung Un, knowing that Tillerson would probably not agree, and that this was the opening Trump wanted to dump Rex.

(And by the way, unlike so many of the pundits and experts who think a Trump/Kim Jung Un meeting is a good idea, I think it is a really bad idea. Trump is an idiot who knows nothing about Korea (north or south), will not study for the meeting, is not diplomatic, and will immediately go off-script and blow the whole deal; maybe even blow up the whole world!)

Under Mike Pompeo, we can expect the U. S. State Department to become less about diplomacy and more about pushing others around in order to "make America first." I might be wrong about this; I hope I'm wrong. The thought of these two men conspiring on a foreign policy is chilling.

The world of Trump seems bad every day, and gets worse every day.

Sigh.
---

THE YOLK'S ON US

I like eggs, especially those produced by chickens and flying fish. Buying chicken eggs (I'll just say "eggs" for the rest of this post) has gotten to be a confusing conundrum. There are many brands of eggs, and within each brand are white and brown and free range and cage free and pasture raised and hormone free and GMO free and.....you've seen it.

What does it all mean? I'll summarize it for you.

Here is a graphic to help:

Cage free (a USDA defined term) means the hens are not kept in cages. They might be, probably are, in a huge barn and have at least 1 square foot (sf) of space each.

Free range (USDA) means the hens have access to an outdoor space of at least 2 sf each; however, the outdoor space might be a dirt, concrete or other surface, with or without a bit of grass, and most hens probably never go out there.

Pasture raised (not regulated by USDA) means the hens spend time outdoors in a real pasture, and have access to indoor space when they want it.

Other things you will see on egg carton labels:

Brown vs. white eggs: there is no difference in taste or nutrition. Different breeds of chickens lay different color eggs.

Non-GMO Project Verified: the chicken feed does not contain any ingredients that are genetically modified.

Certified Humane Raised & Handled: the facility is certified to use humane practices, and certain standards have to be met, such as a minimum of 1-1/2 ft of space for cage free raised hens instead of at least 1 sf.

Organic: the chicken feed ingredients are certified organic.

Vegetarian Fed: this one amazes me; chickens are not vegetarians, they are omnivores.

Omega-3: the chicken feed contains certain ingredients that boost the amount of Omega-3 fatty acids in the egg yolks; however, the amount is only slightly more than regular eggs, not enough to meet any recommended daily amount, and other sources of Omega-3 are less expensive per unit.

Corn and soy free: I have no idea what this is about, and I'm afraid to research it.

There are more items found on egg carton labels than what I've listed here, but this is a good start. I recently decided to try to buy local, pasture raised eggs if they are available. There is one brand of eggs labeled "pasture raised" and displayed prominently in our local food store chain that is not local (I think they are from Texas), which means the environmental cost of transporting them here (big refrigerated trucks) makes them a poor choice for me. One store we shop has pasture raised eggs from a local farm, and they are my first choice. These eggs cost a lot more than the regular cage free or free range, but at $10/dozen (or a bit less), or 83 cents an egg, I think they are a bargain. And I picture the hens roaming around a pasture, eating bugs and worms and spiders and plants....they are probably fed some mixture of grain, too. One of these days I'm going to stop in at that farm and see exactly how the hens are raised, just out of curiosity. The farm is a small operation (I looked at it on Google maps) and probably produces a small number of eggs per day, which is why we only see them in one of the stores of the chain we shop (New Seasons Market). And that's a good thing, in my opinion.

Happy fried, scrambled, boiled and omelette egg eating! (And don't forget the tobiko, or flying fish eggs, on your next batch of sushi.)
---

RETAIL PRETENTIOUSNESS

I enjoy mocking pretentiousness, especially when it is not my own. I just couldn’t resist this offering of pretension that was delivered to our mail slot by our letter carrier. It was a slick, glossy full-color catalogue of outdoor furniture and furnishings from RH. What set me off immediately was the size and heft of this monstrosity: 9.5 inches wide by 11.25 inches tall by 0.5 inch thick, and weighing 1.75 pounds (yes, I weighed it). The letter carrier rolled his eyes when I asked about carrying these around, and said it is quite a burden when he has a dozen of them in his bag.

So my first flareup was, what the hell, why is RH mailing these things to people who never asked for them (I’ve never heard of RH)? Do they understand the environmental footprint, the carbon burden, associated with printing and shipping these things? The cover has a chasing arrow recycling symbol and the FSC logo and the statement, in tiny print, “Promoting responsible forest management.” Nice touch. Nice greenwash.

RH is in San Francisco; however, they are opening a Portland store - oops, not a store - a “design gallery.”

And now the pretentiousness.

pretentious: adjective. 1. Attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, etc., than is actually possessed.

From inside the front cover, we learn the following:

RH INTERIOR DESIGN
We respect the hierarchy and relationships between architecture, furniture and decor that create harmony. It’s a discipline of addition through subtraction, where less becomes more, and calm is created through continuity. Our designers place you at the center of the creative process, working to realize the potential of your home, and bring your vision to life.

RH DESIGN GALLERIES
Our new design galleries are a reflection of human design, a study of balance, symmetry and the golden mean. We are building inspiring spaces that blur the lines between residential and retail, home and hospitality, indoors and outdoors. Our rooftop parks, garden courtyards, design ateliers, restaurants, wine vaults and coffee bars are contributing to an evolving conversation about a new and inspiring way to live.

Oh brother, I can’t wait to get some of that harmony, some addition through subtraction, some less becoming more, and getting calm through continuity. Give me some of that good old “golden mean!!” I want my home to be a blurred line between residential and retail! I can’t wait to find out what a “design atelier” is. And then, hey sweetheart, do you want to go to the park (on the rooftop of a store), or out to dinner (at a retail store) and a glass of wine (in a vault) and go to coffee at the bar in the retail store? What a truly “new and inspiring way to live!!!!”

Damn, I can be nasty!

OK, OK...what are they selling, anyway. Well, I flipped randomly through the slick, glossy catalogue and found:

Outdoor pillow covers $99-109 each (pillows sold separately)
Weathered teak side table $795
LED cantilever umbrella starting at $11,000
White aluminum dining side chair. $465
Wicker sofa: frames starting at $1,495; cushions starting at $665 (4 needed).

Wait a minute - this will be in Portland, Oregon? Huh?

Bottom line: Dear RH, good luck with your new Design Gallery in Portland - seriously, I hope you succeed and hire a lot of local people and pay them a living wage with good benefits. That’s great. But do everyone, including the planet, a favor: stop printing and mailing environmentally obscene catalogues. You have a web site, so if you need to do mass mailings, mail a nice flyer with some sexy furniture on it and your web address in big, bold letters. Seriously, anyone who can afford your stuff certainly has a laptop, a smartphone, a tablet, an Apple watch and.....you know...money.
—-

POLITICAL PORNOGRAPHY

The Age of Trump will be seen by future historians as the Golden Age of Political Porn. The bizarre and obscene have become normal. The goal of the administration and its fellow-travelers is to screw everyone except the wealthy, funding class.

Consider for a moment the Pornographer-in-Chief, Donald J. Trump. We know that many former presidents and other high-ranking politicians have had affairs outside of their marriages (affairs being the polite way to say that they were having sex with others). The present president, however, has taken this to new lows, and is currently being sued by a porn star. It's tawdry business, this Stormy Daniels episode, involving sex, payment of hush money, junkyard dog lawyers, and lots of press coverage. The First Lady, by all appearances, is silently fuming, and seems to not want to be with her husband in public (who can blame her?). The porn star herself is having her 15 minutes of celebrity, complete with photos in every media, and interviews on T.V. talk shows. Stop and think about this for a moment; a pornography star, a person who makes a living (and I hope she does make a good living) by performing every conceivable type of sex act on-camera for public showing, has been normalized. Well, why not? Think about the not-quite-hidden glee journalists (print, online, radio and TV) had when it was decided that using the word "shithole" was OK because the President of the United States said it. This is the Golden Age of Trump.

The Republicans in Congress are part of this pornography ring centered in the White House, in the sense of the political porn they promote. Let me define terms here. One definition of pornography is: the depiction of acts in a sensational manner so as to arouse a quick intense emotional reaction. A legal definition includes this statement: Pornography has been regulated by the legal standards that govern the concept of Obscenity, which refers to things society may consider disgusting, foul, or immoral, and may include material that is blasphemous. And so my concept of "political porn" includes those actions and statements that are purposefully sensational and designed to arouse intense emotional reactions (i.e. Trump tweets), as well as things many of us find disgusting, foul, immoral and even blasphemous (in regards to the Constitution, our guiding "bible").

Every day under the Trump administration, Trump-appointed hit men and women in charge of government agencies, the Republican-controlled Congress, and many Republican-controlled states, counties and cities are taking actions to promote the Trump/GOP agenda of making America white again, making the wealthy wealthier, eliminating anyone who is different, screwing the environment of the United States and Planet Earth, elevating the threat of nuclear weapon proliferation, and promoting hate and misery on a global scale. This is not me over reacting; this is the new reality, the new normal in the age of political porn.

We should not allow our attention to be too diverted by the pornography of the moment in the popular media; the Stormy Daniels' of the day, the 3AM tweets from the golden throne, the hilarity of politicians inventing ways to justify and normalize their kissing of the royal Trump butt no matter how politically obscene the most recent POTUS statement. In other words, it is OK to watch this political porn, but if we get aroused, it should be with righteous anger and a vow to dump these purveyors of porn the next chance we get (2018 and 2020).

---