I CAN’T WAIT FOR AUTONOMOUS CARS

Driving around Portland recently, I’ve decided that a world of autonomous cars would be terrific. I am so sick and tired of rude, crazy, lousy drivers making life dangerous for everyone else. Like the other day, when some driver didn’t like the fact that I was driving 25 mph in a 25 mph zone on a busy commercial street, and had to zoom around me, then around a bus, then around another car; and all to wait at the next stop light with me. This happens every day, and it’s getting worse.

Imagine a world with only autonomous, or self-driving cars. These vehickles would always follow the rules of the road - always. They would never exceed the speed limit. They would always stop for pedestrians wanting to cross the street at an intersection  (the law in Oregon), or that the reason another car is stopped is because there is something to stop about. They would not race yellow lights, make rolling stops through stop signs, tailgate other cars. 

Yes, I know some of you are thinking “oh yeah, what about all the accidents because there won’t be a driver?” Sorry to burst your bubble, but sure, there will be some accidents, but absolutely not nearly as many as there are now with cars being driven by rude, rushed, distracted and, frankly, dangerous driving systems - humans! 

Life will slow down a bit for everyone. You won’t be able to be in a hurry; you will get there as traffic and the rules of the road allow. Maybe we’ll all mellow out a bit. Maybe there will be no more road rage.

And we won’t need personal automobiles anymore; why would we? Today’s Uber and Lyft will be tomorrow’s fleets of autonomous cars for hire, or some similar scenario. “But won’t that cost more?” you ask. Well, what is the true cost of owning an automobile, including maintenance, fuel, insurance, parking? How does that compare with paying a fee for using a fleet of autonomous cars that are always driving around waiting to be hailed?  And if we all don’t have one or more cars, that means very few parking lots and structures, no cars parked along every street, much less noise and pollution. And if every autonomous vehicle is electric, think about the lessened impact on the atmosphere, public health, and the tremendous reduction in the need for petroleum. 

Sounds too good to be feasible, right? Sounds like a world controlled by robot masters. What about all the lost jobs associated with the automobile? Pooh - think big. Use your imagination. Unshackle your mind from the petroleum economy invented by a handful of major industries and be futuristic. This isn’t science fiction any longer, it is a looming reality. 

And I can’t wait! 

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DONALD TRUMP'S BULLY PULPIT

It might be that Donald Trump once read or heard about President Teddy Roosevelt and his bully pulpit. And it might be that Donald J. Trump decided thet he wanted to be a big man like Teddy Roosevelt and have a bully pulpit. 

And so it came to pass that Donald J. Trump grew up, at least physically, and became very wealthy, and well-known, and bankrupt a few times, and a womanizer, and a husband a few times, and had a few kids. And then one day, just like Teddy Roosevelt, Donald J. Trump became President of the United States of America. And he finally had his bully pulpit!

There was only one problem with this turn of events. For all those years that he dreamed of having a bully pulpit, Donald J. Trump misunderstood what it was. And so to practice for adulthood, young Donald became a bully. As he grew older, he perfected the art of bullying, especially, it seems, with women. 

As a candidate for President, Donald J. Trump practised the art of bullying. He called the other opponents names that he made up, mostly mean names. He bullied reporters. He bullied minorities and people from countries like Mexico. He bullied people with physical disabilities, and people who tried to heckle him, and anyone who did anything he didn’t like. 

When he became President, Donald J. Trump applied all the years he praticed bullying to being President. He used his bully pulpit for everything a president has to do. He bullied people in the government, like the CIA and the FBI. He bullied people in his own Cabinet, like Rex Tillerson and Jeffrey Sessions. He bullied some people by firing them. He bullied everyone he didn’t like by tweeting about them. He continued bullying Hillary Clinton even after he won the election - more than a year later! 

And Donald J. Trump applied his bully pulpit to governing. His foreign policy, for example, uses the bully pulpit. He bullied Kim Jong-un of North Korea, calling him names and mocking his nuclear button that is smaller than Donald’s nuclear button. He bullied Kim by threatening to destroy North Korea. And then Donald J. Trump gloated and preened when Kim Jong-un appeared to back down and agreed to meet with Donald J. Trump. 

Then Donald J. Trump bullied the country of Iran. He huffed and puffed about the “worst deal ever...ever!” negotiated by President Obama’s administration limiting Iran’s nuclear weapon development. And he called the Iranians names, and told the allies of America that they were wrong and stupid, and only he could fix this horrible, horrible bad deal. And then he unilaterally pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal, like a kid grabbing all the marbles so nobody can continue the game. 

Donald J. Trump, his head swelling with a bully’s pride, then decided to bully the country of China. He bullied them by calling them names and then imposing tariffs on products coming from China. He was so confident in his bullying abilities that he assumed that China would continue to support his bullying of North Korea, even as he bullied China. 

And then Donald J. Trump bullied the Palestinian people, and every country with an embassy or consulate in Israel, and all people who work for Middle East peace, by declaring, again unilaterally, that he would move the American embassy to the city of Jerusalem. And his partner in bullying, Bibi Netanyahu, crowed and huffed and puffed with glee alongside Donald J. Trump. And once again the bullies claimed victory while the bullied looked on in anger and amazement. 

And Donald J. Trump, the consumate bully, also whines and sheds crocodile tears about how he is being bullied by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. He cries out “witch hunt” and “no collusion” to let people know how he is being bullied by that Justice Department bully. He lets us know that he can out-bully that bully whenever he wants by firing him, but he is too nice to do that! 

And so it is that Donald J. Trump, the 45th President of the United States, governs with a bully pulpit. He is the Bully in Chief. Every decision and choice and action he takes is that of a bully. He is the BOTUS. 

Too bad Donald J. Trump didn’t actually do his homework about President Theodore Roosevelt. If he had, he would have understood what a bully pulpit is. President Roosevelt used the bully pulpit “to challenge and triumph over abusive monopolies, political bosses, and corrupting money brokers.” President Roosevelt certainly would have used his bully pulpit to bully Donald J, Trump and his corrupt cronies!

—-    

TRUMP, ISRAEL, GAZA: BLAME ALL AROUND

May 14 was the opening ceremony for the new, temporary United States embassy in Jerusalem, and also a violent day of demonstrations, deaths and injuries on the Gaza side of the Israel-Gaza border. 

As an American, I am insulted, ashamed, embarrassed and angered by the opportunism of the administration of Donald J. Trump. As a Jew, I am insulted, angry and once again not supportive of the opportunistic actions of the Benjamin Netanyahu government of Israel. And as a human being, I am angered by the callous opportunism of Hamas, and greatly saddened by the deaths and injuries of Gazans. 

The Trump move of the American embassy to Jerusalem was not part of a comprehensive foreign policy plan; it is evident that the Trumpsters have no such plan. The embassy move was both a ploy by Trump to please elements of his evangelical Christian base, who, as one attendee said, have "prayed for 20 years" for this action, as well as an attempt to burnish his own reputation in his own eyes. The move was also a strong boost for Netanyahu from his best new friend, Donald Trump. (Have they created a new monster named Netrumpyahoo?) 

As always, the politics and situations in the Middle East, and in this case, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, are complex and demand an objective view to be understood. Peace between Israelis and Palestinians remains elusive, and the conflict has long been a political football kicked around by all sides. What was evident May 14 was the raw opportunism from the three major players: the United States, Israel, and Hamas.

The way the embassy opening was staged is an insult and an outrage. The religious leader  (Robert Jeffress) invited to give the opening prayer at the dedication of the American Embassy in Jerusalem is an evangelical Christian who once said that Judaism, along with Mormonism, Islam and Hinduism, is one of the religions "that lead people to an eternity of separation from God in Hell."  Jeffress is one of Trump's spiritual advisers, and was referred to as a "religious bigot" in a tweet by Mitt Romney yesterday. 

The Trump administration also had John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel, deliver a benediction at the ceremony. Hagee is another religious extremist who has stated that Hitler was part of a "divine plan from God" to return the Jews to the Land of Israel, and has also argued that Jews are to blame for their own persecution over the centuries because they have not converted to Christianity. 

The fact that Trump invited these bigots to spew their brand of Christianity at an embassy opening - whatever happened to the separation of church and state - is bad enough; the fact that Netanyahu had no problem with known anti-Semites speaking is even more insulting and egregious. But this is how Netrumpyahoo rolls! 

Netanyahu gave a victory speech. Sure, it makes sense for embassies of other nations to be in the same city as the government institutions of the host country; however, Jerusalem is not a normal situation, under international law. No other country (except Italy) has its embassy or consulate in Jerusalem; they are all in Tel Aviv and surrounding locations. Trump's action was designed to support and polish the tarnished reputation and standing of Netanyahu, as well his own. The embassy move is not part of a larger policy or plan, and it is at its core a very cynical action. In announcing the move, Trump made no mention of the Palestinian Authority, and the fact that their goal is that Jerusalem will be their capitol. The Trump action simply erased any hopes in the minds of Palestinians that the United States can be trusted, and can be counted as a partner at the table for future peace negotiations. 

There is no doubt in my mind that Netanyahu represents the Israeli factions that consider all of the West Bank (and probably, eventually Gaza) as part of the real Israel (Judea and Sumaria), and have no intention giving any of it to Palestinians as a Palestinian state. This is why the Netanyahu government continues to build and expand Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories. This is why Trump moving the U. S. embassy to Jerusalem, a contested city, is a great victory. 

And then there is Hamas. What presumably started as a non-violent series of demonstrations by people in Gaza to highlight their losses of family land and homes, following the war between Arabs and Jews when Israel was declared a nation 70 years ago, was taken over by Hamas for violent purposes. Hamas officials have stated that a majority of the Gazans killed by Israeli troops were Hamas members. The story that is emerging is that Hamas fighters were trying to hide within the large crowd of demonstrators, hoping that, if and when the demonstrators were able to penetrate the border fence, these armed fighters could rush in and try to kill or capture Israelis. 

Hamas urged the crowds to rush the border fence, knowing full well that many would be injured or killed. The dead would then be hailed as martyrs and heroes. Hamas is a terrorist organization. It has plunged the people of Gaza into a condition of poverty, joblessness, poor education and health care, and severely restricted travel, in a territory with usually sealed borders. I don't think the Israeli blockade came first; it is clear that the constant drumbeat of terrorism on the part of Hamas provoked the closed border and restricted imports into the Gaza strip. 

Palestine/Israel is a complicated place and an extremely complex set of political realities. No involved party is totally right; no involved party is totally wrong - they all share blame for the current situation. It is easy to criticize Israel every time it defends itself or its borders, and some criticisms are justified. But to simply lay the blame for the constant string of violence on one player, Israel, is to be a lazy thinker and knee-jerk reactor. 

The Trump move of the American embassy to Jerusalem did not cause the Gaza demonstrations, but it did contribute. The cynicism and opportunism rampant in the Trump, Netanyahu and Hamas administrations has created a higher level of distrust, anger, and violence, as well as pushing the prospect of a peaceful settlement between neighbors much less likely. 

A pox on all of their houses! 

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WHO ARE THE REAL SUPERHEROES?

This morning I walked over to the Bagdad Theater and watched the new Marvel Avengers movie. I also had a yummy pizza and a pint of beer, kolsch, to be exact. There has probably not been a movie with as many superheroes as this latest Avengers, which brought together characters from all the different Marvel movie story lines. Wow, what a ride! 

But a simple fact kept nagging at me: this is not reality, it is fake. I could not help thinking, throughout this action-packed movie, who the real superheroes are. 

Last night we saw a movie about a real superhero - Ruth Bader Ginsburg! The movie, Notorious RBG, is a low-budget documentary about a physically diminutive, soft-spoken woman with the mind and fortitude that outshines any Avenger. And interestingly, the film about a Supreme Court Justice is in the top 10 on the box office charts. Perhaps the popularity of Justice Ginsburg says something about the mood of Americans; we need real superheroes at a time when our country and many others in the world are under assault by narrow-minded, greedy, power-seeking and murderous villains - in our own governments. 

Put Notorious RBG on your list of films to see. It will make you feel good to know that a real superhero, one who actually wears a costume - black robe with lace or often-interesting collar - has our backs, and refuses to give up the fight for truth, honesty, justice and the rule of law. 

Look, up on the bench, it's a small Jewish woman, it's a black-robed goddess, it's....it's....NOTORIOUS RBG!!

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TRUMP'S TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE NEW IRAN DEAL

President Donald Trump has demonstrated, once again, that keeping a promise to his base is more important than keeping the world safe. By pulling the United States out of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or the Iran nuclear deal, Trump has plunged the world into a more unsafe condition than it already was. Below, in my opinion, are some major problems with Trump's action:

• the United States violated the terms of the agreement, not Iran;
• the United States acted against the input and desires of its closest allies who also signed the agreement;
• the United States demonstrated that it cannot be trusted to live up to an agreement (an especially important point in regard to the upcoming talks with North Korea);
• the United States has, once again, demonstrated that it is no longer the leading power in the world, but instead a nativist, self-serving nation;
• the United States has handed Iran an opportunity to start developing nuclear weapons again;
• the United States has elevated, once again, the use of military intervention against Iran;
• the United States has put Israel in even greater danger than it is already in regarding Iran;
• numerous companies, including some in the United States, will need to end their business with and in Iran;
• this action possibly makes Iran even more dangerous than before.

The JCPOA was not a perfect deal; a fact acknowledged by all of the nations that signed it. It does not address the Iranian development of ballistic missiles, it does not limit Iran's militaristic moves for hegemony in the Middle East (think Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.), and it does not address Iran's sponsorship of global terrorism. What the JCPOA did was to put the Iranian nuclear weapon program on hold for a decade or more, thereby eliminating the threat of a nuclear attack by Iran on Israel or other nations.

Trump promised his base, during his campaign and as president, that he would get the United States out of the "terrible, horrible, stupid, terrible, worst deal ever, ever, ever" (some of us doubt he has read the JCPOA). His idea of pulling out of the JCPOA was not, however, supported by some of his major advisors, including then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson or Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis. They argued that it would be a very bad move to pull out of the deal, and that a better course of action would be to negotiate with our European allies and the Chinese and Russians (all signatories to the JCPOA) to push Iran into further negotiations to address the important issues left out of the deal.

But Trump did not like the advice from members of his Cabinet. He fired Tillerson; Mattis is still hanging on. He also replaced career diplomats in the State Department who were the leads on policy for Iraq and Iran and put in a political appointee and Trump loyalist, Andrew Peek, to be in charge of these areas of State Department responsibility. Peek is a hawk, and agrees with Trump's decision on the JCPOA. Peek has no prior diplomatic experience, and is not an expert on Iran or Iraq. Trump also brought in John Bolton, an ultra-hawk, as National Security Advisor. With these men, and others of their ilk onboard, Trump has the pseudo-expert cover he needs for his actions.

How this all turns out is anyone's guess. Trump will impose new, tough sanctions on Iran, so what will happen in regard to European companies that continue to do business in Iran? Will the other signatories to the JCPOA continue to support the deal, and try to isolate and work around the United States? Will the Iranians give in under withering new sanctions, and suddenly play nice? Perhaps Iran will restart its nuclear enrichment program, under the excuse that the United States violated the JCPOA and, therefore, it is no longer a valid agreement. There are many possible scenarios that could unfold, and I think the bad ones outnumber the good ones.

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STORMY: TOO MANY WEATHER REPORTS

Stormy Daniels, Stormy Daniels, Stormy Daniels....I truly don't get it. Why are the news media so focused on Stormy Daniels? Seriously, a porn movie star had consensual sex with a rich playboy and a few years later accepted a payoff ($130,000) to not talk about it because he was running for president of the United States. Yes, it is oh so tawdry and oh so naughty and oh so laughable; but is this really the worst thing Donald J. Trump has done or is doing? The answer is - no.

Will this bring Donald Trump to his knees? Not likely.

The Daniel's (or Clifford, her real name) lawsuit is against Trump's lawyer/fixer Michael Cohen, and claims that the non-disclosure agreement she signed was invalid because Donald Trump had not signed it. The reason for the suit, I assume, is so that Stormy can freely talk about her alleged affair with Donald Trump, and certainly profit handsomely from it. She has recently filed another law suit against Trump for defamation of character, based on one or more of his tweets about her. There is some speculation that the payoff to Stormy might be a violation of campaign finance law; however, this sounds like a bit of a stretch.

And so we see Stormy and/or her lawyer in the news, on the TV, in the comedy news shows and etc. every day. Stormy Daniels, pornography star and producer - now often called "adult film star" - has become normalized. She has become very famous, and will certainly reap huge gobs of money from this moment of fame. Will her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, bring down the POTUS? I would be surprised.

This whole Stormy Daniels story is, in my humble opinion, no more than an erotic side show that distracts us from the real news. There are so many more important things to think about and spend media time on than the alleged fornication and other likely sex acts engaged in by two people, no matter who they are. The negative effects of the Trump administration on the United States and the world are serious, and we all need to pay attention. Shame on the news media for this undue focus on this tawdry story. It gets them eyeballs, but not much else.

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MEMORANDUM TO MR. ZUCKERBERG AND MS. SANDBERG

MEMORANDUM
TO: Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, and Sheryl Sandberg, COO
FROM: a Facebook user pulling the plug
SUBJECT: the reasons I don't believe what you are saying, and goodbye
Dear Mr. Zuckerberg and Ms. Sandberg - may I call you Zuck and Sand? - I have been a Facebook user for many years, which you already know because your memo-reading algorithm has already listed all my personals for you. I have not opened Facebook for a couple of months, and for my 74th birthday (you already know it was 2 days ago) I am pulling the plug.
The reason is very simple - I don't trust you. Now, Zuck and Sand, you might be, probably are, very nice kids (at my age I can call you that); however, you have done a great and possibly tragic mis-service to humanity, as have the other major internet companies, by helping develop surveillance capitalism. You are keenly aware of the effects of your so-called "social network" tools. Many of your former colleagues, people who made millions/billions of dollars in the early years of Facebook, Google, WhatsApp and all the others, are now bemoaning where it all has gone, and what it is doing to society, including effects on children's brains.
I have heard both of you interviewed about this most recent Cambridge Analytica scandal and, to be blunt, I'm not buying what you are peddling. Your apologies are meaningless, and you know it. You both spoke from the same script, which included things like what Zuck said in one segment: “We didn’t focus enough on preventing abuse and thinking through how people could use these tools to do harm as well,...That goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections, hate speech, in addition to developers and data privacy. We didn’t take a broad enough view of what our responsibility is, and that was a huge mistake. It was my mistake.” Sand said mostly the same thing in an interview I heard on NPR. What is it those teenagers from the Parkland, FL high school say? "We say B.S.!"

For 2017, Facebook had $41 billion revenue and $16 billion profit. You have thousands of employees, all very smart people. You know exactly what your business model is; Facebook sells its user’s data as commodities to anyone who wants to buy them. Are you seriously telling us that you could not "focus enough on preventing abuse" and did not "take a broad enough view" of your responsibility to your users? Seriously? If your mega-company is so stupid, why would anyone trust you with their personal information? Of course you have known all along that you were not protecting your users, and of course you've known all along that your view is not broad enough, it is focused on one thing - maximizing profit.
I truly hope the Facebook and similar fads fade away and that the internet changes into a useful and usable tool that is not based on monetizing users. Companies can still make money in various ways, such as charging money for using the service (see my previous post). Most people already do this - Comcast, Spotify, Netflix, Apple Cloud and Apple Music, and on and on. We all pay for services we want to use because we know a simple rule: there is no such thing as a free lunch.
So goodbye Zuck and Sand, I am no longer harvestable data (well. actually I know that I don't need to be a Facebook user for you to collect my data, but let's pretend it's true for this post). I hope you make drastic changes to your business model, and I hope you come under some new form of realistic regulation soon, and I hope your monopoly is broken up.
And do let me know if your business model changes; I might re-join then.
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TRUMP IS A MADMAN AND WE SERIOUSLY NEED TO GET RID OF HIM

We are in year two of the Trump presidency, and we keep telling ourselves every day that it can't get any worse, and it does.

This is a basic truth: Donald Trump is a madman. And while he tweet-rants and lies and reverses himself by the hour, and fires his cabinet members one-by-one, ad kisses Putin's ass...the evildoers he has put in charge of government are disassembling government and giving away everything of value to their corporate masters. And the citizens of America, those who are not in the Trump camp, the GOP leadership or the corporate masters of them all, are being ignored, abandoned and made less well-off than ever.

This is serious. Seasoned politicians, public servants, journalists and others are openly saying that American democracy is at serious risk, perhaps as never before. This is serious; seriously.

And where is Congress? The GOP majority in Congress is silent; they have nothing to say about their president. They are complicit in the destruction of American democracy, and they have to know it. With what devil did the GOP make a pact? How can they not act to at least limit the damage being done by their president and his appointees? This is outrageous!

We are all counting on the Mueller investigation to come up with the smoking gun, the silver bullet that will end Trump's presidency. It might. Let's hope.

But in the meantime, it is up to the Democratic Party and the millions of good people of America to set into motion a plan to push the madman out of office; we need a political coup. Soon.

Two avenues exist for this political coup, and I am not expert enough to know if and how; impeachment and invoking Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution. In either of these, the Vice President would become President, and the prospect of a President Pence is also frightening; however, it could not possibly be worse than a President Trump (could it?).

We tell ourselves that the only course of action is to get a democratic majority in Congress in the 2018 mid-term elections. It could happen, especially if Democrats - including the far left and progressives - are smart, not stupid like they were in 2016.

But seriously, Trump is a madman, we need to get him out of the White House.

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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!

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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!

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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.

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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
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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.
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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.)
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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.
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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).

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NRA'S WAYNE LAPIERRE: PROFESSIONAL DEATH MONGER

Wayne LaPierre, the sulfurous executive vice-president of the NRA, spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference (C-PAC) yesterday. (Dana Loesch, another mouthpiece for the NRA, made every reasonable human vomit at the Parkland Town Hall meeting on CNN earlier in the day.)

LaPierre trotted out his usual speech following mass murder events using guns, blaming everyone but the NRA, and especially Democrats and liberals and the mysterious socialists among us.  I won't mince words here (do I ever?); LaPierre is a crackpot who has made a living as a Death Monger for an organization that peddles guns and attacks anyone who doesn't toe their line.

It's worth watching a few minutes of his speech at C-PAC - keep a barf bag nearby, and soft slippers to throw at the screen - to understand the death and hate-mongering he and his organization spew. Keep in mind the hold these crackpots have on the U.S. Congress and the current Administration - they spent $30.5 million on Trump's 2016 campaign, and many millions more on other campaigns (including Sen. Marco Rubio).

Here are a few phrases from his opening couple of minutes at C-PAC, which I have annotated:

"...keep the families and communities in our prayers..."
Ah yes, thoughts and prayers - the standard trope following each and every gun tragedy; as if these have ever made any difference.

"...as usual, the opportunists wasted not one second to exploit tragedy for political gain..."
Who are these "opportunists?" Oh, it must be the teenagers who survived a mass murder at their school, and the parents and families of the murdered children and teachers, and the teachers who survived, and the County Sheriff and so many others who are speaking out and organizing for meaningful gun control. And what "political gain" are these "opportunists" seeking, Wayne? In fact, Wayne, you are the biggest opportunist of all!  

"...national media eager to smear the NRA..."
No one needs to smear you or the NRA, Wayne, as you have been smearing yourselves with the excrement you peddle for years. 

"...call for even more government control..."
"Even more government control" of what? Do you mean government control of instruments of death, like semi-automatic rifles, large-capacity magazines, bump stocks and other weapons of mass destruction? If that's what you mean, you putrid excuse for a human, then yes, the majority of Americans want more of this kind of government control!

"...they hate the NRA, they hate the Second Amendment, they hate individual freedom..."
You're correct about the first one - we do hate you. As for your Second Amendment crutch, we don't hate it, we simply think it is not relevant today, especially the way it was written more than two centuries ago. And the Second Amendment has absolutely nothing to do with individual freedom, unless you think that means the freedom to kill masses of people and to terrorize children and entire communities.  

"...the elite don't care one whit about America's school system, and America's school children..."
Whoa up a minute there, pahdner...who are "the elite?" Do you mean people like you who get paid somewhere between $1 million and $5 million per year to peddle death and destruction? So yes, it's true, people like you don't give a whit about schools or kids, they are simply collateral damage in your campaign to sell more and more and more guns. 

"...their goal is to eradicate the Second Amendment, and our firearms freedoms,  so they can eradicate all individual freedoms (applause)."
I'm not sure what to say here....this is genuine, 100% unadulterated crackpotness. Wayne, maybe you didn't pay attention in school (were you too busy cleaning your weapons?), but individual freedom is not limitless in a democracy, it is regulated for the good of society. Your brand of freedom sounds like anarchy, and that is really the nub of what the NRA is peddling, unregulated individual freedom backed up by a pile of guns in every household. No thanks, Wayne, I'll take my individual freedom with a good dose of social responsibility and government regulation for the benefit of all. 

Finally, it is instructive to see the speech that Wayne LaPierre plagiarized for his stock speech. This is a must see, because it truly explains everything. Here is the link.

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BREAK THE HOLD OF THE NRA

I don't need to go into detail about the strangle hold the National Rifle Association has on the U.S. Congress and President. The NRA spent an unprecedented amount of money on the 2016 election, and was a major factor in the wins by Donald Trump, Senate candidates in key states, and other down-ticket victories in the gun belt.

And deaths by gun continue in this country on a daily basis, including school shootings. If you want the chilling facts, do an internet search, this is well covered by the media and non-profit organizations such as Gun Violence Archive (gunviolencearchive.org).

Many elected politicians take money from the NRA, and to be fair, a small percentage of them favor some level of gun control law. But for the most part, the NRA-supported politicians don't talk about gun control. They “don't want to politicize”mass shootings when people are grieving, they can only say the standard catch phrases that have tried and true terms such as “thoughts and prayers” and “we have to deal with mental illness.” This is all a cruel insult to everyone, most particularly the families and friends of shooting victims, and the victims who survive.

The number of deaths and injuries by gun keep increasing in the U. S., and the amount of time spent by the media on the larger mass shootings (more than 4 victims) continues to decline. Gun violence has become normal, and only the most egregious and shocking incidents hold our attention for very long.

U.S. society is crazy, and getting crazier. We have become, by so many metrics, a true “shithole” country, and one that is shot full of holes.

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