tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30576698683060950612024-03-21T19:12:20.141-05:00PrytaneumA venue for discourse given to perpetual renewal of the ideas that sustain an egalitarian culture in justice, health and happiness.Salmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03266325817485680629noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-63111231054514459022012-02-18T09:37:00.002-06:002012-02-18T09:47:45.504-06:00Infantile ParalysisNo, this article is not about the affliction that millions of children suffered before the Salk polio vaccine was invented. Instead, we refer to the paralysis of a major political party in the U.S. and the infantile reaction of a prospective Presidential candidate. Lacking a philosophy of governance himself, Rick Santorum has demonstrated the truth in (then candidate) Obama's 2008 prophetic analysis that a frustrated electorate in small-town Pennsylvania and the midwest<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">"...get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations,..."</blockquote><div> Santorum's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtOcrS6axnE&feature=player_embedded">ROMBO video</a> and his dogmatic refusal to respect women's rights of free choice in their own behavior and health care, have Republicans shooting at each other, rather than articulating ideas to ensure economic opportunity and justice for all Americans.<br />
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How can we hope to explain that the person who "approved this message" was ever elected to the U. S. House of Representatives, and to the U. S. Senate? Does losing his re-election campaign in 2006 really signal that Pennsylvania voters have finally turned the page on mindless demagoguery? How can we justify his costume in the file of clowns parading in the circus of Republican primary exhibitionism that we have witnessed over the past few months? Well beyond P. T. Barnum's wildest dreams!<br />
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Santorum's tantrum is evidence enough of the insidious malevolence cultivated in our society by the relentless propaganda of the National Rifle Association cloaked in the guise of defense of constitutional rights. How much longer will Americans tolerate this ghastly paranoia before recognizing its unmistakeable consequences in events like the Gabby Gifford shooting and the Columbine school disaster? How can we accept as "normal" <a href="http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777958.html">that 45 school shootings occurred</a> in the U. S. from 1996 to 2010? If these are the isolated responses of the deranged or mentally deficient, how do we interpret the actions of a parent who <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2012/02/fed-up-north-carolina-father-shoots-daughters-laptop/">shoots his daughter's laptop</a> to teach her a lesson about parental respect? Does anyone see the irony in this? Not the American news media who set about <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2012/02/fed-up-north-carolina-father-shoots-daughters-laptop/">polling the public</a> to make sense of this inanity, rather than exercising responsible journalism in condemning irresponsible behavior.<br />
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The hatred, bigotry, vitriol, and disrespect shown toward other candidates and toward the religious, political, and personal beliefs of other Americans have been the hallmarks of the current campaign season. Every single prospective candidate currently left standing in the Republican line-up for the Presidential nomination has disqualified himself from further consideration. Answer for yourself the question that Obama raised in the 2008 quotation above. Which of today's prospective candidates was he describing?<br />
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It has been said before, but some things are worth repeating: "Be careful how you vote; you may just get what you have voted for."</div>Salmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03266325817485680629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-65748975095794609112011-10-06T08:32:00.000-05:002011-10-06T08:32:10.322-05:00Follow Your Dreams<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
It is not the Apple II, Macintosh, iPod, iMac, iPhone or iPad that define Steve Jobs' contribution to our lives. These are simply the by-products of Jobs' quest for beauty. In partnership with <a data-mce-href="http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/WOZNIAK.HTM" href="http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/WOZNIAK.HTM">Steve Wozniak</a>, tinkering with electronics and rudimentary software, Jobs and "the Woz" were the essence of "<a data-mce-href="http://www.yesterdaysbread.co.uk/history-flowerpower.html" href="http://www.yesterdaysbread.co.uk/history-flowerpower.html">flower power</a>" blossoming at the dawn of the personal computer age in the 1970s. </div>
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In his <a data-mce-href="http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html" href="http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html">2005 commencement address</a> to Stanford graduates, Steve Jobs urged the graduates to follow their dreams, unfettered by the constraints of other peoples' thinking. We will not reiterate here the various paths that Jobs followed that would brighten the lives of millions of humans. Instead, let us reflect upon his own explanation of what drove him, and what we might do to find fulfillment in our own brief time on this earth:</div>
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Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.</blockquote>
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Steve Jobs, June 12, 2005</div>
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Thank you Steve.</div>
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Cross-posted to <a href="http://renaissancepost.com/">The Renaissance Post</a></div>
Salmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03266325817485680629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-64027346063055178392011-09-10T16:40:00.003-05:002011-09-12T13:52:47.026-05:00Choosing Mediocrity and GreedChoosing Mediocrity and Greed<br />Minnesota as a Microcosm of the Nation <br /> <br /><br /><br />Before Governor Dayton capitulated to demands the state continue to operate on a budget that excoriates the backs of lower income Minnesotans’ I wrote a commentary on the reasonableness of his proposals. They were based broadly on two assumptions most Americans have subscribed to forever.<br /><br />First, there are functions government can provide better and more efficiently than the private sector and should provide through general taxation. Secondly, those who benefit the most from living in America should contribute more than those who benefit the least.<br /><br />It turns out, because of the growth by topsy of our system of taxation; both the state and federal tax systems are regressive with the exception of the income tax. Income tax is the only tax opponents of increasing taxes point at. They never say income in front of tax.<br /><br />Minnesotans in the top 1% of incomes pays less as a per cent of their income in state and local taxes than the bottom 99% of us. <br /><br />Opponents of increasing taxes on the very highest income brackets point out taxpayers in the top 10% pay 56% of income tax. This is true according to the Minnesota Revenue Department’s Tax increment study (MDTI) of 2011. In the same paragraph they note the same taxpayers bore 38.5% of the total tax burden having 42% of a total income. The bottom 10% paid no income tax but they paid 2.4% of the total tax burden but received less than 0.9% of the total income. <br /><br />Tax rates by deciles from the MDTI shows the rate of all taxes on Minnesotans (state and local) is the lowest for the highest incomes at 9.7%. <br /><br />How the Democrats and Dayton could not get this into the media is beyond me. The scoring of his proposals after watering down his original proposals showed that 90% of his increase would be paid by the top 5% and fully 80% by the top 1% of incomes. <br /><br />This would hardly be confiscatory on those poor million/billionaires. The MDTI shows this would be an increase of 1.77% on their total tax rate. Since state and property tax is deductible on federal taxes this would lower the effect on their state tax rate to a 1.22% increase. The federal government would pay for about 30% of the increase coming to Minnesota.<br /><br />Instead of solving the budget problems the legislature pulled a Pawlenty. A name that should become an adjective describing kicking the fiscal can down the road by delaying payments, borrowing from future revenue, and defunding social safety nets for the politically and financially impoverished. <br />This is what the legislature did. Politicians will surely write in and try to confuse you about this. I invite you to explore the Minnesota Revenue web site yourself.<br /><br />Minnesota is a microcosm of the nation and its fiscal madness. Both are saying, in effect, we cannot afford to join all other advanced nations in providing the same safety nets and services other nations do. They have convinced enough people that undeserving, slothful, and devious people are “milking the government cow from 300 million teats”. They still believe the fabrication of the welfare queen driving up in her Cadillac to get her welfare check that was disproved thirty years ago. <br /><br />I have not found an IRS document like the Tax Incidence Studies. I did find a publication on the top 400 incomes reported for 2008. The top 400 reported had an average income of 270 million dollars. Approximately one third had an average federal income tax rate of less than 15%. Only 15% of such returns had an average between 30 and 35%. Less than 4 out of 5 returns for the fabulous 400 reported wage or salary income. They had income only from rent, dividends, interest, capital gains, and the like. All these are subject to preferential tax treatments. It also indicates these 88 of these folks do not contribute anything to social security.<br /><br />The average tax on $270 was 49 million for an average tax rate of 18.11%. When you hear politicians say you can’t overtax “job creators” and throw 35% figure at you it might be interesting to ask them if they know the average rate billionaires pay in income tax. Their response will be the rich invest their money and create jobs. The rich invest their money in relatively mature and large business and industry. That is impossible to do and keep your investment in the U.S. Both General Motors and Ford are making most of the cars in other countries. Chrysler is owned by an Italian company. IBM, General Electric, you name a titan of Wall Street and they are global. Much of the uber rich create jobs in other countries. <br /><br />F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “The rich are different from you and me.” I would rather dwell on a quote from Warren Buffet one of the richest men in the country. “There is something wrong with a system where I pay less of my income in taxes than my secretary”.<br /><br />In a kinder and gentler time conservatives like Theodore Roosevelt knew it was not good to charge those riding in first class on the ship of state the same as those in steerage. Ronald Reagan recognized the need for a progressive tax and after his 1982 tax cut raised taxes 11 times. Reagan’s tax increases in 1983 were called the largest peace time tax increases in American history.<br /><br />In a kinder and gentler time the public made a decision to protect our disadvantaged, handicapped, and disabled. We decided to honor our elderly, protect them from poverty, and provide dignity for them in their dotage. We are not broke. We can afford it. We choose not to. We choose to go back to 30% poverty for those over 65. We choose to go back to the poor farms. We choose Hoovervilles. We choose Grandma and Grandpa living with their children for the last decades of their lives. <br /><br />I don’t remember the Hoovervilles but I do all the rest and I don’t choose it.r.sauerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245470902283662176noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-56813205325975655062011-09-09T16:39:00.002-05:002011-09-09T16:59:32.732-05:00Surprise-SurprisePew Research published a new poll about the public's view of problems facing the nation September 8th. The heading on their e-mail alert stated now more people view jobs and the economy more important than the nation's debt.<br /><br />In the article there is a graph that shows the levels of concern for jobs, the budget deficit, inflation, financial and housing markets since March 2010. Jobs has always, since March 2010, been the area of most concern. Only in March, 2011 was inflation within 6% of jobs and the budget deficit has never been less than 10% below jobs in the publics concern.<br /><br />Not only were the Republicans able to ignore the public's concerns. They were able to distract (along with Obama and the Congressional Democrats) the majority of the media with their constant message of deficits and the extortion of the debt limit raise.<br /><br />Until Obama learns how to avoid falling into letting Republicans control the subject we will all go through this over and over again.r.sauerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245470902283662176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-77098348689191856622011-09-09T14:28:00.000-05:002011-09-09T14:29:21.673-05:00Medicare Did It Right, Again <br /><br /><br />For those who believe Government cannot do anything right I offer this example of a Government program that has done quite a few things right. The agency is the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Boy that will explode a few right wing heads.<br /><br />Six years ago the FDA approved, in an expedited process, stent devices similar to the stents used to open heart arteries that are plugged up with cholesterol plaques for use in preventing strokes and more specifically recurrent strokes. It seems intuitive that if it helps in heart disease and the problems in stroke are very similar it should help in stroke as well. It just isn’t that simple.<br /><br />CMS knew it was not that simple. Since most strokes caused by cholesterol plaques occur in older patients Medicare was likely to be responsible for much of the cost of the new therapy. Standard medical therapy consists of strict control of blood pressure, strict control of diabetes, control of cholesterol/lipid levels, drugs to reduce the ability of blood to clot, cessation of smoking and life style changes. <br /><br />CMS refused to pay for the stent treatment unless it was done for a controlled study to prove the stents would be effective. So a study was devised where matched patient populations were all given the intensive medical management and half were also given the stent after appropriate disclosure that it was a new procedure study. Adding the approved stent (Wingspan stent) would add $88,000 to the $24,000 cost of the intensive medical management.<br /><br />The study found the stent produced no long term benefits and was statistically similar to the medically treated group after the immediate post operative period. The stent, however, was associated with a large increase in death and recurrent stroke in the immediate post operative period.<br /><br />It is possible that further studies will find a niche for the stent in a rigorously selected group of patients. Stents for atherosclerotic heart disease went through a period of reappraisal. It is still the object of some skepticism and will undoubtedly continue to be studied and its indications for use will be refined.<br /><br />Still, the indiscriminate use and the additional $88,000 cost will not be a factor in Medicare inflation. CMS did the taxpayers a great favor. Not only in protecting the Medicare funds from more rapid depletion but in influencing the private insurance industries costs. When Medicare makes this kind of move the private insurers almost always follow quickly. Medicare gives them cover for excluding this kind of unproven therapy from coverage.<br /><br />Think of the vast number procedures and treatments that are no more than intuitively performed in this country that should be examined critically. That is the purpose of the section of the Affordable Care Act concerned with comparative effectiveness. You know, the part that Republicans demagogue as the rationing of care. <br /><br />Ref. Stenting versus Aggressive Medical Therapy for Intracranial Arterial Stenosis: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoal105335 <br /> Brain Stents do more Harm than Good, Rob Stein<br />http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/brain-stents-for-stroke-patients-do-more-harm-than-good-study-shows/2011/09/02/glOAAtRWS9Jr.sauerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245470902283662176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-75514100748423498382011-09-04T14:03:00.002-05:002011-09-04T14:18:26.411-05:00Government should stop licensing marriage Government - Federal,State and Local should get out of the
<br /> Marriage Business
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<br />My wife and I recently had a conversation about the coming constitutional amendment vote here in Minnesota to declare marriage as the union of only a male and a female. This is being proposed after the Republican dominated House and Senate of the state passed a bill that cannot, by our constitution, be vetoed by the Governor. The arguments for this include the threat such unions pose to traditional marriages and the admonitions in the bible against such unions. Homophobia is alive and well in Minnesota.
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<br />The bible argument is a bit strange. There are, to my understanding, biblical admonitions against bestiality. Definite proscriptions against same sex unions, I believe, are based on loose interpretations of allegory from the old Testament and St Paul in the New. Many interpretations of any part of the bible have confounded scholars (especially skeptics) for centuries and, I suppose, still do. Even if you are so faith endowed you believe in the inerrancy of the bible you should agree there are many ways to interpret much of the bible.
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<br />My biggest problem, however, with the biblical argument is there are many people, even here in Minnesota, for which the bible is not their religious touchstone. Besides devotees of Dawkins, Harris, and Sagan Minnesota has the largest population of Somalis in the country and the second largest (to California) of Mung for whom the bible is of little import. There is a Buddhist Temple in Minneapolis. The Wiccans are a secretive lot and I’m not sure of their numbers. The reader can name many more religions I’m sure.
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<br />Man and woman unions had the added salutary effect, as far as the churches and synagogues were concerned, of producing offspring to fill up the pews and church coffers. Kings, satraps, and head men every where were given more fodder for their armies as well. Besides it is good for control of the masses if they accept control in the intimate matter of long term relationships they will accept control in many other areas as well.
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<br />There have been threats to my marriage but never have I considered the cohabitation of members of the same sex a threat. We had a gay couple live directly across the street from us in St Louis and they were wonderful neighbors. Quiet, industrious, and kept their property in great repair and the landscaping was outstanding. They were friendly, polite, thoughtful and circumspect. I have gay relatives who have not come out and so they are circumspect about their preferences. My wife had/has many gay friends because of the fine arts degree she returned to college for. None of these associations ever caused the problems between us that raising four kids did.
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<br />This is not just a rant without a proposed solution. I look at marriage as a religious construct. It was probably proposed centuries ago by the same kind of priests Jesus threw out of the temple in the oft repeated story in the bible. The motive was not to limit the number of wives and maybe the untold part of the story was it was not even to limit who married who. Remember Solomon and his finagling and multiple wives. David and even Moses had multiple wives. A practice we now abhor and have done away with. We can do the same for people who through no fault of their own have a same sex orientation.
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<br />The major biblical admonition most often quoted against same sex union is by St. Paul an author that can, without stretching the imagination, be considered probably schizophrenic. The bolt of lightning that knocked him off his horse had the effect of causing him to hear voices longer than a simple concussion should. In any case the churches seemed to have latched onto this rite in all cultures and most religions. There were other benefits besides the initial monetary one. The money coming into the church just for the ceremony was probably enough.
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<br />Man/woman marriage also had the salutary effect of producing offspring that populated the pews of the churches and the armies of the kings.
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<br />When civil government decided to get into the marriage business is difficult to determine. It varies from country to country but started somewhere in the middle ages. Certainly it started much later than the religious certification of marriage.
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<br />Libertarians do not believe the state/government has any business in the marriage of a man and a woman. A libertarian view on same sex marriage is more difficult and I suspect more varied. Be that as it may, my view is the state has no business in the marriage controversy at all. This may be the only situation where I am in at least partial agreement with Libertarians.
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<br />The state/government based its involvement on controlling sexually transmitted diseases, eugenics, to protect the citizen from illegal/improper marriage, and to keep accurate records. It was also used to prevent whites from marrying blacks, mulattos, Orientals, Indians and others in many states in the United States. The arguments now are effectively reduced to the biblical admonitions and the accurate records for issuing a license at all.
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<br />My opinion on this divisive and contrived political controversy is all government entities should stop issuing licenses to anyone. Religious sects should be free to marry whom ever they feel comfortably fits within their religious convictions. Gays, lesbians, and transgenders do fit into some orthodox religions it seems. If there are none local to all these groups they can form a congregation of their own if they wish.
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<br />The state can require couples to come forward after exchanging vows and register civilly as is done in some European countries. The couples signatures and social security numbers should identify the individuals for purposes of the state and federal governments. Surely this information can be transmitted securely to the IRS, Social Security, state and all other agencies that would require this to afford them the legal status of marriage without calling it anything except registering. The couple can call it marriage, bonding, union, partnering or anything else they want to.
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<br />This should protect divorce lawyers that will then be called to divvy up assets if the couples decide to part and decide if one should contribute the others cost of living. It should allow the couples to visit each other in the intensive care unit and make decisions about resuscitation. It should allow the remaining partner to collect the deceased partner’s estate, pension, and social security if appropriate. It should allow the couple to file joint tax returns no matter the construct of the union. There is nothing in the word marriage that is magical.
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<br />Those who want a big $25,000 church wedding and an even more expensive divorce can continue to do just that.
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<br /> I want no part of peeking into anyone’s private life and I don’t think the government representing me should either.
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<br />r.sauerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245470902283662176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-91540140475462020712011-07-08T09:34:00.001-05:002011-07-08T09:38:47.630-05:00The "No New Taxes" FantasyThere is no free lunch. We pay our taxes to support security for all of our citizens, wealthy and otherwise. Plug the tax loopholes, kill the subsidies going to fossil fuel providers, and step up to the cash register to pay legitimate bills for maintaining the infrastructure that supports an egalitarian way of life.<br />
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Social Security is a huge pool of money, but it exists because we pay for it during our working lives. This is not a tax designed to meet the day-to-day expenses of governance, it's a savings account administered as a trust fund so that those of us who are fortunate enough to live to see retirement can be sure of having some of that retirement supported by what we have saved.<br />
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Large pools of money draw politicians like maggots to rotting meat. Tell your representative and senator to keep their <a href="http://flybase.org/reports/FBim0000950.html">mouth hooks</a> off the Social Security landscape. "No New Taxes" in Minnesota has already put us $6 billion in the red. Let's start paying it off, but not so fast that our bridges collapse in the "rush hour" traffic.<br />
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Let's look briefly at the current "rush" to reduce the deficit at both the state and federal levels. We're told that our current debt is unsustainable, that soon, we will be spending our entire budget just to service (pay interest on money already borrowed) our debt. Too bad, but that's the way credit systems work. Whether it's your mortgage, credit cards, or your line of credit, once you incur the debt, you must pay the lender. This is both a legal obligation and a moral responsibility. So, paying the debt does not involve "new taxes" at all, it simply requires us to do what we said we would do when we borrowed the money.<br />
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The obligation we're talking about is an old one, stretching back years, or decades, spanning times when the economy was good. Now that it is not so good, can we simply declare bankruptcy and stop paying the bills? Yes, at the individual and corporate level, but at the cost of a poor credit rating in the future, impoverishment of our moral standing in the community, or the demise of a once-profitable business. No, at the democratic government level. We incur debt at this level because of perceived legitimate needs at the time the debt was incurred. Maybe the cause was to fight global totalitarianism, maybe to clean up the aftermath of the "perfect storm", maybe to build national networks of rail, road, electrical or communications grids.<br />
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Whatever the need, it was judged sufficient at the time to justify incurring the debt. Now we must pay the piper, even if our individual contributions (taxes) have to be somewhat larger than we had earlier anticipated. The popular slogan, "no new taxes", deceives us into thinking that we are going to be spending money we don't have on "new" programs. Nothing could be further from the truth. Current budgets at the state and federal levels address continuing needs that have, in many cases, not been fully funded at the outset. Some of these programs need to be phased out in an orderly manner if they are no longer in the best interests of the citizenry, but this can be done carefully, with aforethought, so that the providers of these services can retrain and relocate without creating a major economic upheaval at home or abroad.<br />
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In future essays here, we will explore how population changes, opportunity costs, and undue reliance upon the science fiction of Ayn Rand have resulted in the current crises of government spending. For now, it will suffice to simply do as we have always intended in the past, that is, pay our bills, even if the rates on existing tax bases have to go up.Salmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03266325817485680629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-82717793704889022772011-07-06T15:33:00.000-05:002011-07-06T15:33:22.818-05:00Hope for Florida afterallWe can all be grateful that visitors to Orlando can now focus on the family entertainment fantasies being played out at Disney World rather than the side show emanating from the Orange County Courthouse. Those dissatisfied with the verdict in the Casey Anthony trial, should redirect their vitriol to the gullibility of the American public, all too ignorant of the protections we enjoy because of the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.<br />
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Florida still has a long way to go to qualify as the apex of civil rights in the U.S. But, yesterday's verdict takes a giant leap forward from the heyday of the Orlando Klavern <a href="http://myfloridalegal.com/newsrel.nsf/newsreleases/C4F9E89A26C88DEB852571CC00694A6E">blowing up the residence of NAACP worker Harry T. Moore</a>, killing both Harry and his wife, Harriette. In 1972, the end of t<a href="http://www.pbs.org/harrymoore/terror/groveland.html">he 28-year reign of terror by then Sheriff of Lake County, Willis V. McCall</a>, revealed a change in the times in Florida, long a stronghold of anti-union and segregationist sentiments. Perhaps it was the influx of retirees and snowbirds seeking respite from northerly climes, as <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/31/books/31book.html">Isabel Wilkerson suggests</a>. Or, maybe just the relentless force of reason, implying that justice for one can mean justice for all.<br />
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We'll never know what the verdict might have been had Casey Anthony been black, but the day after America's birthday, all Americans can celebrate the fact that a jury of her peers lost no time in affirming that a person accused of first degree murder cannot be deprived of life or liberty in the absence of compelling evidence to convict.<br />
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Cross-posted to <a href="http://renaissancepost.com/">The Rennaisance Post</a>Salmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03266325817485680629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-17050271016394332982011-05-24T22:26:00.008-05:002011-05-24T23:09:03.677-05:00Scopes Monkey Trial Revisited<div style="font: 13.0px Georgia; line-height: 19.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 13.0px 0.0px;">Words flowing from the pens of ordinary folk are exceedingly ineffective in expressing disappointment. When tragedy strikes, we send condolences, try to express our concern for the bereaved, all the while feeling our own impotence in trying to make things feel right again. So it is in Tennessee, and everywhere that true patriots and dutiful citizens contemplate the meaning of what they do.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Georgia; line-height: 19.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 13.0px 0.0px;">As reported in the <a href="http://www.memphisflyer.com/MemphisGaydar/archives/2011/05/24/haslam-signs-pro-discrimination-bill&cb=51797ee1617069ba1c8473a3d617ec40&sort=desc#readerComments"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc;">Memphis Flyer</span></span></a>, "Governor Bill Haslam signed the "Special Access to Discriminate" bill into law yesterday, preventing city and county governments from passing ordinances requiring contractors to treat LGBT employees equally." This, from a man whose <a href="http://www.billhaslam.com/site/c.ieJPIWOtEnH/b.6035805/k.F775/Bill8217s_Values_Are_Tennessee8217s_Values.htm"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc;">campaign website proudly proclaims</span></span></a>: "Bill's values are Tennessee's values"</div><blockquote><i>Bill Haslam understands that protecting our conservative values comes first. He respects the Bible’s admonition against losing our moral compass: “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”</i></blockquote><div style="font: 13.0px Georgia; line-height: 19.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 13.0px 0.0px;"><br />
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In his headlong rush to preserve the Second Amendment, he tramples the First by disavowing separation of church and state, and puts "conservative values" ahead of responsible governance, and equal protection under the law.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Georgia; line-height: 19.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 13.0px 0.0px;">We know who was the first on Gov. Haslam's list to be denied equal protection under the law. We desperately need to know who is next. Women? Muslims? Teachers of evolution? Atheists? Democrats? Lincoln Republicans? Hillbillies? Intellectuals? Or, perhaps we should ask, "Who is last on his list?" Nixon Republicans? Fundamentalist fanatics? Apocalypse prophets? Dog fight promoters? Run-of-the-mill plain vanilla bigots? Most Tennesseans probably think they're safely ensconced in the middle of the pack. It would be safer to ask, "Was Hitler the only Nazi?"</div><div style="font: 13.0px Georgia; line-height: 19.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 13.0px 0.0px;">One presidential hopeful put it most prophetically before the last election: “They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”<br />
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Cross-posted to <a href="http://renaissancepost.com/">The Renaissance Post</a></div>Salmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03266325817485680629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-9811909824745679632011-04-28T13:14:00.004-05:002011-04-28T13:58:35.743-05:00Earth Fart<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This really is about planetary flatulence</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> matched only by the oral flatulence of the promoters of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_fracturing" target="_blank">hydraulic fracturing</a>.</span><br />
<div><br />
<div class="entry" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: 'Lucida Bright', Verdana, Georgia, Inherit, 'Times New Roman', Arial, sans-serif, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Briefly, deep wells (thousands of feet deep) are drilled into rock formations. Shale is often a target because it may hold large quantit<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">ie</span>s of natural gas, not as pockets, voids or chambers, but as gaseous molecules permeating the rock itself. At the bottom of the well, the drillhead turns and cuts a horizontal bore that may extend thousands of feet into the rock. A slurry of water and sand-like particles (and proprietary compounds such as diesel oil) is pumped into the hole under extreme pressure, causing fractures in the rock (think of water freezing in cracks of rock and forcing the cracks to widen). The particles in the slurry “prop” the cracks open so that gas can bleed into the fracking fluid which is then transported back to the surface where the gases are recovered from the fluid.<br />
<br />
The process is <a href="http://www.governing.com/topics/energy-env/Hydrofracking-Natural-Gas.html" target="_blank">controversial</a>, not only because the drilling and energy companies refuse to disclose the “proprietary” ingredients in their hydrofracking slurries, but because the groundwater in regions subjected to this process is frequently contaminated by toxic heavy metals and flammable gases such as those flowing from the kitchen tap in the following video clip.<br />
<div style="background-color: black; width: 368px;"><div style="padding: 4px;"><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" height="293" width="360"><param name="src" value="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:313050" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="360" height="293" src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:313050" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br />
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 4px; padding: 4px; text-align: left;"><strong><a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-june-21-2010/daily-show--15080-pt--3">The Daily Show</a></strong><br />
Tags: <a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/">Daily Show Full Episodes</a>,<a href="http://www.indecisionforever.com/">Political Humor & Satire Blog</a>,<a href="http://www.facebook.com/thedailyshow">The Daily Show on Facebook</a></div><br />
</div></div>Why should this concern Minnesotans? Let us examine a few recent events to see if there is cause for concern.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"></span><br />
<a href="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/04/21/red-wing-fracking-sand" mce_href="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/04/21/red-wing-fracking-sand" target="_blank">National Public Radio has reported</a> that an energy company has recently purchased 155 acres of land near Red Wing, MN, in the Hay Creek watershed. Their stated purpose for the purchase was to create a "sand pit". Interesting that the Minnesota Administrative Rules, in particular, <a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/rules/?id=4410.4400" mce_href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/rules/?id=4410.4400" target="_blank">4410.4400 Mandatory EIS Categories</a>, would have required an EIS "For development of a facility for the extraction or mining of sand, gravel, stone, or other nonmetallic minerals, other than peat, which will excavate 160 acres of land or more to a mean depth of ten feet or more during its existence,..." Perhaps the 155 acres was just coincidental.<br />
<br />
The sand is unusually suitable for "propping" material in hydrofracking operations for oil and natural gas recovery from deep wells. It turns out that the bluff country flanking the Mississippi River is underlain by extensive sand and sandstone structures containing sand similar to that in the Hay Creek deposits. Minnesotans and Wisconsinites need to know if this is the beginning of a new mining industry with the potential to reshape significant portions of the Mississippi River valley.<br />
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Let us also examine recent TV commercials aired frequently by Exxon/Mobil. Here, a gentleman of kindly countenance explains in a paternal tone that trillions of cubic feet of natural gas awaited only an "idea" for their release and use as a "clean" domestic fuel for American consumption. How uniquely American; Yankee ingenuity at its best! No mention of hydrofracking; no mention of the environmental devastation reported from several states already involved in hydrofracking; no mention of groundwater contamination.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002679/">Lynn Stalmaster</a> couldn't have cast the commercial any better.<br />
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Cross-posted to the <a href="http://renaissancepost.com/">Renaissance Post</a></div></div></div>Salmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03266325817485680629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-92050163816745118412011-04-20T12:25:00.003-05:002011-04-20T14:09:53.467-05:00Way too much Orange in GOP FruitcakeFirst Richard Nixon, born in a citrus orchard (lemon?), who resigned his presidency to protect his pension. Now, we have <a href="http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2011/04/scott_adams_dilbert_marilyn_da.php">Marilyn Davenport</a>, self-proclaimed <a href="http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news%2Flocal%2Forange_county&id=8080624">Christian humorist sharing her private chuckles</a> with her like-minded friends, copy also (by mistake) to the President of the United States? She has "humbly apologized" for her abysmal behavior, but not for her bigoted mind. Nor will she resign from the Orange County GOP Central Committee of which she is a part. Elected part. California law says she can't be fired (from a duly elected position), so the onus is on her to resign. Is it citrus pollen, or, something in the water out there? Arizona, California, Texas, Florida, hmmm?<br />
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Don't bother trying to get to the "contact us" page on the <a href="http://www.ocgop.org/takeaction">Orange County GOP server</a>, it hasn't been able to handle the traffic. Or, maybe it's a deliberate move to:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmVTH-0c1HVcnR1EDRhSQGmj_IoTwVyeNrrYpSvAoB0rsBr_dvT8U5YTwUKB-xG08qfSgToWH9uXPm_tB_gUgPhRwEzMBTijYLxAMr8MM1eeKC7uSojE95F5KzGTQmRQBR2_6engZ-YQhJ/s1600/500px-ThreeWiseMonkeys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmVTH-0c1HVcnR1EDRhSQGmj_IoTwVyeNrrYpSvAoB0rsBr_dvT8U5YTwUKB-xG08qfSgToWH9uXPm_tB_gUgPhRwEzMBTijYLxAMr8MM1eeKC7uSojE95F5KzGTQmRQBR2_6engZ-YQhJ/s400/500px-ThreeWiseMonkeys.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My little digital dictionary lists, among others, the following synonyms for "humble": lowly, working-class, lower-class, poor, undistinguished, mean, modest, ignoble, low-born, plebeian, underprivileged; common, ordinary, simple, inferior, unremarkable, insignificant, inconsequential.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">All of the above seem somehow inadequate; too quick to apologize, too slow to think. Where does the party find them?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Cross-posted to the <a href="http://renaissancepost.com/">Renaissance Post</a></div>Salmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03266325817485680629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-9734878945110202592011-04-04T21:20:00.000-05:002011-04-04T21:20:25.599-05:00"The War Prayer" RevisitedNot since Mark Twain’s “<span id="goog_1243268878"></span><a href="http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/making/warprayer.html">The War Prayer</a><span id="goog_1243268879"></span>” have we seen a clearer encapsulation of the consequences of irrationality. Paul Meyers, known in the blogosphere as ‘PZ’, has given sentient beings pause for thought in his April 3 essay, “<a href="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/04/shades_of_gray.php">Shades of Gray</a>“. Twain’s inability to publish such thoughts, posthumously discovered in a cache of his unpublished works, reveals a hopelessly bigoted public (yes, Mother, those were our grandparents), steeped in religious fantasy so pervasive that they were completely unable to examine their own lives as Socrates would have required them (us) to do.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
PZ has brought all of it to the fore. The bigotry, fanaticism, compassion, ethics, reason, human rights, democratic processes, religious fantasy, and, ultimately, our individual responsibility to fulfill our own destiny by thinking for ourselves. His commentators, following his post, have added abortion, racism, infanticide, pre-emptive killing (Hitler, for example as a suggested target), and capital punishment to an already unbearable mix of human behaviors poorly tempered by individual reflection and judgment.<br />
<br />
Ayn Rand’s fictional character, Francisco d’Anconia, in “<i>Atlas Shrugged</i>” declared that “There are no evil thoughts except one: the refusal to think.” Plato credited Socrates, in “<i>The Apology</i>” with recognizing that “The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance”. PZ has just reminded us that we are all woefully ignorant of our own thinking, let alone the thinking of others. When someone, a statesman, neighbor, pastor, relative, friend, colleague, loved one, priest, or elected official, invokes a term such as patriotism, sacrifice, duty, honor, truth, glory, or allegiance, in regard to your behavior or their own, be very cautious in proceeding on the strength of their advice. Be sure their words mean the same things to you as to them. Insist upon facts, evidence and reasoned argument before accepting anyone’s conclusions, and thoroughly examine your own motives, analysis, and conclusions.<br />
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These are dangerous times, from within, and without. Crackpot Christian fundamentalists need to stop hoping for the fantasy of armageddon rather than incrementally leading us to it. We desperately need a unification of humankind rather than an increasingly polarized and divided global population. Meyers made a critical point in how we conduct our affairs:<br />
<blockquote><i>All around the world, people are killing and being killed; they are crossing the clearest, least arbitrary border we have. You don’t come back from death, and you can’t atone for extinguishing another life….In the real world, those bodies are people, with 20 years or 30 years or 50 years or 70 years of stories and connections behind them, part of a web of humanity, and their every action tugs on the people around them. Dehumanizing them, as we often do, dehumanizes us. You are the killer, but you are also the killed.</i></blockquote>In America, we know how long it takes to repair social rifts such as the abolition of slavery. We must do everything in our power to preserve and protect the lives, stories, and connections represented by all the peoples of the world. This is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Only-World-Weve-Got-Shepard/dp/0871563967/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301967167&sr=8-1">The Only World We’ve Got</a>.<br />
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Cross-posted to: <a href="http://renaissancepost.com/">The Renaissance Post</a>Salmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03266325817485680629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-60222148501229441452011-03-24T08:35:00.000-05:002011-03-24T08:35:05.732-05:00Mother of All Ironies?<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font: normal normal normal 13px/19px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.6em; padding-left: 0.6em; padding-right: 0.6em; padding-top: 0.6em;">In the year 2011, one hundred years after the birth of Ronald Reagan, the American electorate is torn between honoring the "Great Communicator" and finally recognizing the shambles he made of the infrastructure of sentient governance in America. Almost lost in the string of pearls today recounting civil war in Libya, broken nuclear reactors, and the death of Elizabeth Taylor, was this little gem from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood:<br />
<blockquote>"<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="font-style: italic;">It is not acceptable to have just one controller in the tower [at Reagan National Airport] managing air traffic in this critical air space".</span></blockquote>This, in response to the <a href="http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-politics/20110324/Airport.Tower./" mce_href="http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-politics/20110324/Airport.Tower./">unassisted landing of two commercial aircraft at D.C.'s Reagan National Airport</a>. Hello! Is anyone home? Apparently not. Or, maybe they were just sound sleepers. They? Who are we kidding? A <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="font-weight: bold;">solo</span></span> air traffic controller sleeping through his watch just a few miles from the Pentagon, White House and National Capitol? If you can control the airspace around the nation's capitol with a single person in the tower, why do we need two pilots in the cockpit of a single aircraft? Are we really safer without an Air Traffic Controllers' union? Who would have done away with such a union? And, why? Ideology, demagoguery, or, all of the above? Certainly not reason.<br />
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It is long past time to begin to answer these questions. Can we continue to believe in the free lunch fantasy in which good things happen even though we are unwilling to pay for them? Go figure! Really, GO!<br />
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Cross-posted to <a href="http://renaissancepost.com/">The Renaissance Post</a></div>Salmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03266325817485680629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-25966384981343906372011-03-13T23:29:00.000-05:002011-03-13T23:29:12.583-05:00Genie Leaves BottleWell, the demons have escaped. Yes, those previously bottled up in Japanese reactors near the coast, and those unleashed by Wisconsin Gov. Walker and his henchmen in Madison. Rather than recount the indignities suffered by Wisconsin teachers and civil servants, it is fair to question whether this is an isolated incident, or simply fueling similar fires all across the country.<br />
<br />
Case in point, the recent passage of SB1 in Missouri, the "right to work" law. <a href="http://www.theygaveusarepublic.com/diary/7906/kansas-city-labor-rally-against-sb-1-right-to-get-paid-less-part-2">This disingenuous law pretends to "allow" job seekers to accept employment in union shops without having to make mandatory dues payments</a> to their unions. Apparently, someone has convinced the state legislature that job-seekers are avoiding Missouri because union jobs will require them to make payroll deductions for their dues. Protestors have renamed this bill the "right to work for less" law. Surely, this isn't intended to be union-busting.<br />
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Is there any other evidence of possible union-busting in current Missouri legislation? Just ask Senatrix Jane Cunningham, who has recently sponsored a particularly odious attack on Missouri teachers. Her (brainless child) Senate Bill SB372 wreaks havoc on teachers by stripping away tenure, reducing minimum pay for certain classes of teachers from $33,000 to $24,000 per year (<a href="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/03/are_teachers_overpaid.php">teachers are clearly overpaid</a>), prohibiting teachers from participating in election campaigns for their own school boards (Sieg Heil!) and they will be subjected to rigorous teaching competency evaluations annually, to wit:<br />
<blockquote><i> Each teacher must have an annual comprehensive, performance-based evaluation conducted. Fifty percent of the evaluation will be based on the performance of students for whom the teacher has responsibility. Fifty percent will be based on the district's teaching standards developed under section 160.045. No more than forty percent of a building's teachers will receive a standards-based score in the top thirty-three percent. Teachers must be evaluated regularly and twice annually in the final year of their continuing contract. Advance notice of evaluations will not be given. Evaluations must be maintained in the teacher's personnel file.</i></blockquote>If all this is necessary for public school teachers, surely it must also apply to the state's elected legislators. After all, they're responsible for the entire population of the state, including the kiddos!<br />
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While you are recovering from your cerebral hernia from that last passage, you'll find comic relief in another Missouri masterpiece conceived by (you guessed it) Senator Cunningham herself. This little gem addresses the critical needs of children under the age of 16 to enter into mainstream commerce. Specifically, SB222 modifies Missouri child labor laws.<br />
<blockquote><i>It eliminates the prohibition on employment of children under age fourteen. Restrictions on the number of hours and restrictions on when a child may work during the day are also removed. It also repeals the requirement that a child ages fourteen or fifteen obtain a work certificate or work permit in order to be employed. Children under sixteen will also be allowed to work in any capacity in a motel, resort or hotel where sleeping accommodations are furnished. It also removes the authority of the director of the Division of Labor Standards to inspect employers who employ children and to require them to keep certain records for children they employ. It also repeals the presumption that the presence of a child in a workplace is evidence of employment.</i></blockquote>Quite clearly, these little angels don't have enough schoolwork to fill out their afternoons, so they have to turn to the busy work of commerce to keep their idle minds occupied. To top it all off, this bill was championed on the supposition that lemonade stands and lawn-mowing businesses have been unduly oppressed by existing child labor laws. I would be very circumspect about drinking any of the Kool-Aid from her kitchen.<br />
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Not to leave the latest rant without some positive rumination, here's a note of interest:<br />
<blockquote><i>A teacher somewhere in your neighborhood tonight is grading and preparing lessons to teach your children while you are watching television. In the minute it takes you to read this, teachers all over the world are using their "free time" and often investing their own money for your child's literacy, prosperity, and future. Copy and post this if you are a teacher, love a teacher or appreciate teachers.</i></blockquote>Why do singles and childless couples pay taxes to their local school system? <b>For the privilege of living in an educated society.</b><br />
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</b><br />
Cross-posted to The Renaissance PostSalmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03266325817485680629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-40991452614435341342011-03-07T09:35:00.002-06:002011-03-07T09:54:46.712-06:00Governor Goofs?<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font: normal normal normal 13px/19px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.6em; padding-left: 0.6em; padding-right: 0.6em; padding-top: 0.6em;">We're not talking about former Governor <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="font-weight: bold;">Rudolph George Prpić</span> infamously named "Governor Goofy", by Newsweek Magazine. We're referring to MN Governor Dayton's signature on the bill last week to authorize changes in environmental review that will, hopefully, streamline the processing of permits for siting industrial projects. <br />
<br />
The <a href="http://politicsinminnesota.com/blog/2011/03/report-states-environmental-review-process-is-slow/" mce_href="http://politicsinminnesota.com/blog/2011/03/report-states-environmental-review-process-is-slow/">Legislative Auditor's report, released last week</a>, concluded that the permitting process was too lengthy and costly in Minnesota. This bill, House File 1 and Senate File 42, was purportedly designed to reduce the time taken to process environmental review applications.<br />
<a name='more'></a>Unfortunately, the bill contains insidious provisions that ensure less public participation in the environmental review process. <a href="http://looncommons.org/2011/03/06/policy-update-gov-signs-enviro-review-bill-more-tough-days-ahead/">Broadly rejected by environmental quality advocates</a>, the language in this bill allows the project proposers to write their own environmental impact statements, an action likened to "putting the fox in charge of the hen house." Those statements, which will unanimously conclude that no irreparable damage will occur from any of these projects, will have to be reviewed by state agency staff for compliance with environmental protection criteria. It remains to be seen whether or not the aggregate time required for the permitting will be reduced as authors of this bill would have us believe.<br />
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More odious is the provision in this legislation that will take contested environmental reviews out of district courts and pass them along to the appellate court in Minnesota. The <a href="http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2011/03/03/26311/gov_dayton_signs_gop_permit-streamlining_bill_disappointing_environmentalists" mce_href="http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2011/03/03/26311/gov_dayton_signs_gop_permit-streamlining_bill_disappointing_environmentalists">Minnesota Post</a> reports that,<br />
<blockquote><em>Those who would want to fight a permit in the courts would be required to go directly to the Minnesota Appeals Court, bypassing district courts. That’s a more expensive process and would prevent all but the wealthy from taking on court fights.</em></blockquote>A final grievance with this legislation is that it acquiesces to the whingeing myth that a slothful civil service is responsible for the delays encountered in permitting environmental review. This false, but uncontested accusation underlies a large proportion of the bellyaching heard by the "smaller gov'mint" advocates populating too many state and federal legislatures.<br />
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It is true that incompetency among political appointees and elected officials lies at the heart of many mis-steps in governance. We need only to examine examples provided by Carol Molnau and "<a href="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/06/29/corriganleaves/">wrong-way Corrigan</a>" to justify our skepticism of this process. But these are the current costs of a democratic society and we can always hope to do better in assessing the qualifications of political candidates and appointees.<br />
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It remains to be seen whether or not the latest revision in environmental review will result in permanent damage to our environment.<br />
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Cross-posted to <a href="http://renaissancepost.com/">The Renaissance Post</a></div>Salmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03266325817485680629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-10008560871436558632011-03-01T09:12:00.002-06:002011-03-01T09:17:21.231-06:00A Horse named WalkerOne important difference between a tyranny and a democracy is that dictatorial leadership is not constrained by the principle of a <i>quorum</i>, defined as "the minimum number of members of an assembly that must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid". <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert%27s_rules_of_order">Robert's Rules of Order</a>, the quintessential authority on parliamentary procedure, notes that the "requirement for a quorum is protection against totally unrepresentative action in the name of the body by an unduly small number of persons".<br />
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The practice of preventing attainment of a quorum, is, like filibusters and re-reading of the Constitution, a long-standing ploy to defer substantive action of a deliberative body either because there is no alternative to a dire outcome, or to protect a minority view from being desecrated by majority action. Both of our major political parties have used these and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quorum#Determination_of_a_quorum_and_actions_that_may_be_taken_in_the_absence_of_a_quorum">complementary procedures</a> to effect their purposes. The conservative media have been too quick to cast the quorum rule in the light of a trick that defeats "the will of the people" in the current case of Wisconsin.<br />
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In fact, the will of the electorate is to have deliberative legislatures examining issues important to our governance. It is a perversion of any democracy to say that elections resulting in a majority of one party over the other means that minority party members should pick up their marbles and go home. Elections almost always result in a single party being in the majority. What they do with that majority, and especially, how they protect minority rights, is a measure of their mettle. Do we really want to return to the days of party bosses, where the Whip dictated the character of the vote, rather than merely calling for one? The legitimacy of a particular bill's passage is inversely proportional to the degree of "adherence to strict party lines" among its supporters. <br />
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And so, we find ourselves in the embarrassing position of having a state Governor unabashedly refusing to debate the merits of a potentially union-busting bill in Wisconsin. How dare he refuse to hear the arguments of dissention? How dare he lie about the available remedies for a budget shortfall? How dare he insert himself into limiting legislative debate? Where abides the "separation of powers" doctrine in Wisconsin? How dare he lock the doors of the state house?<br />
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I am reminded of a horse named Walker. A perfect horse to break-in a would-be ploughman. In harrowing the garden, Walker usually did what I suggested. But when it became clear that my guidance would lead us through the lilacs, he quietly came to a stop and awaited further instruction. He even looked back to verify that the reins were telling him what I really wanted him to do.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0nBiFilxSzcefWpFmdPyzMWALl5ld_2vBUiQvXvTUbezpKhnEiFpsPrdvRFvdMrQ8Gfqck2a06PcFYa-p0sA2aJOMoAz9Sg_KLxft0-WVQIkPXN467PUDylZy_5DglgvHTWV7K-CYZqSa/s1600/Walker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0nBiFilxSzcefWpFmdPyzMWALl5ld_2vBUiQvXvTUbezpKhnEiFpsPrdvRFvdMrQ8Gfqck2a06PcFYa-p0sA2aJOMoAz9Sg_KLxft0-WVQIkPXN467PUDylZy_5DglgvHTWV7K-CYZqSa/s400/Walker.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">WALKER, Percheron X Standard Bred (with just a touch of Arab)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
How is Walker to be remembered? Stubborn and unerring in plowing his way through the lilacs? Or, strong, unflappable, patient, willing to accept guidance but not blindly so, and willing to pull his share until the work is done. The more harrowing view is that of the south end of a northbound horse.<br />
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Cross-posted to The Renaissance PostSalmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03266325817485680629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-9627815139897625372011-02-26T12:53:00.007-06:002011-02-26T15:42:34.977-06:00Fox Guarding the Hen House<div style="font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Palatino; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Only the Governor's veto can now stand in the way of the Minnesota legislature's most recent ineptitude, if not malfeasance. </span></div></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Palatino; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></div></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Palatino; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Crossing the Governor's desk next week is the spectre of emasculation of Minnesota's environmental protection act, </span><a href="http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/departments/scr/billsumm/summary_display_from_db.php?ls=87&id=35"><span class="Apple-style-span">Senate File 42, and House File 1 </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span"> This ill-conceived legislation would put the </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span">fox in charge of the hen house</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span"> in an illusory attempt to decrease the time between applying for a permit to site an industrial plant and granting the permit. Playing upon the urban legend of "guv'mint inefficiency" the revision to Minnesota environmental statutes would be reworded:</span></div></div><blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong><i>Article 1, section 7</i></strong><i>, allows a project proposer to prepare a draft environment impact statement for a project for submission to and review, modification, and determination of completeness and adequacy by the responsible government unit.</i> </div></blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Palatino; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Current law requires the local "responsible unit of government" to undertake the environmental review specifically to avoid real or perceived bias in the content of the review. But, we're not done yet! The new bill goes even further by violating basic principles of judicial review:</div><blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong><i>Article 1, section 9</i></strong><i>, modifies the procedures for judicial review of decisions regarding the need for an environmental assessment worksheet, the need for an environmental impact statement, and the adequacy of an environmental impact statement. Current law provides that these decisions may be reviewed by a declaratory judgment action in the district court of the county where the proposed action or any part of it would be undertaken. This section provides that these decisions would be subject to review by the Court of Appeals, rather than the district court.</i></div></blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Reasons for this miscreant revision are obvious enough, opposition to citing industrial plants, especially "dirty" ones, arises from the grassroots at the local level. Sending the citizenry to St. Paul to attend Appellate hearings will clearly reduce citizens' involvement in the review process. No evidence has been provided to show that such a diversion of responsibility from district courts to the appellate court will be more expeditious, or, could even be handled on the crowded docket of the appellate court.</div><a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">A non-partisan Legislative Auditor's Report, considering how best to streamline the environmental review process, is already in preparation. Governor Dayton has already issued an <a href="http://www.faegre.com/12686">Executive Order to require agency action</a> on permit applications to be 30 days instead of the 90 days currently specified by Minnesota law. Surely a modicum of experience with the new permitting interval under the Executive Order would provide sufficient insight into its feasibility to allow for future permanent changes if they would, indeed, be useful.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">We are faced with a badly conceived and poorly written legislative "solution" to a purported problem of permitting citing of industrial plants in a timely manner. The sacred cow of "efficiency in government" is raised without asking whether or not state environmental, resource, and legal institutions, emasculated by 8 years of "no new taxes" can adequately perform their duties of protecting Minnesota's air and water resources, even with the current time-lines. No evidence has been provided to substantiate the urban myth that agencies "take too long" to execute their mandated responsibilities.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">We know from our experience with ethanol plants that insufficient planning and oversight have too frequently resulted in many of those plants being built without adequate provision for environmental protection. Up to <a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/104746614.html">1/4 of our ethanol plants have clearly violated environmental laws</a>. The MPCA has implied that this is due to plant operators <i>not understanding </i>the environmental regulations, a hopelessly charitable interpretation that can only bring into question their own competency.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The conclusion is obvious, we need more time, better oversight and better enforcement to protect the environment, rather than less.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Call the Governor's office by Monday, Feb. 28, to express your view of this legislation.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Cross-posted to The Renaissance Post </div></div>Salmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03266325817485680629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-59334977310101588522011-02-24T09:54:00.000-06:002011-02-24T09:54:04.542-06:00Best Governor Money can Buy?<div style="font: 14.0px Palatino; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Georgia; line-height: 19.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 13.0px 0.0px;">Riddle overheard on the streets of Milwaukee:</div><div style="font: 13.0px Georgia; line-height: 19.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 13.0px 0.0px;"><b>QUESTION</b>--How do you spell Walker?</div><div style="font: 13.0px Georgia; line-height: 19.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 13.0px 0.0px;"><b>ANSWER</b>--B L A G O J E V I C H</div><div style="font: 13.0px Georgia; line-height: 19.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 13.0px 0.0px;">Wisconsin really is broke; you get what you pay for and this Governor is clearly a bargain-basement purchase. If you need further proof, just look up the <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/116737394.html"><span style="color: #2500ee; text-decoration: underline;">Journal-Sentinel Online</span></a> or, better yet, hear the recording <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/116737394.html"><span style="color: #2500ee; text-decoration: underline;">Audio: Prank Interview</span></a> there of a prankster, posing as billionaire David Koch (Walker gift horse), in a telephone conversation with the new Boy Governor. I won't say anything more here at the risk of revealing the aural pornography in store for the listening audience.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Georgia; line-height: 19.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 13.0px 0.0px;">Tommy Lee Jones said it best in <i>No Country for Old Men</i>, "You can't make up such a thing as that. I dare you to even try."</div><div style="font: 13.0px Georgia; line-height: 19.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 13.0px 0.0px;">Fiscal bankruptcy is curable, but moral bankruptcy? Ask Blagojevich.</div><div style="font: 13.0px Georgia; line-height: 19.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 13.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 13.0px Georgia; line-height: 19.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 13.0px 0.0px;">Cross-posted to The Renaissance Post</div><div style="font: 13.0px Georgia; line-height: 19.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 13.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div>Salmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03266325817485680629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-71041434925470492532011-02-22T10:57:00.002-06:002011-02-22T11:03:53.786-06:00A New Infantile Paralysis<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font: normal normal normal 13px/19px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.6em; padding-left: 0.6em; padding-right: 0.6em; padding-top: 0.6em;">My generation grew through childhood during those perilous years before Jonas Salk developed an effective vaccine against the <a href="http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEC/CC/polio.php" mce_href="http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEC/CC/polio.php" target="_blank">poliomyelitis virus</a>. One strain of the virus induced paralysis in about 1% of infected persons, children being especially susceptible, hence the name, infantile paralysis. The Good News is that the last reported case of wild polio virus transmission in North America occurred in 1979. The World Health Organization hopes to be able to declare world-wide eradication of the disease early in the 21<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="sup" mce_style="vertical-align: super;" style="vertical-align: super;">st</span> century.<br />
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The Bad News is that a new virulent plague of infantile behavior among elected officials is currently sweeping the country. This behavior has already <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/americas/tens-of-thousands-march-in-wisconsin-in-support-of-union-rights/article1915220/" mce_href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/americas/tens-of-thousands-march-in-wisconsin-in-support-of-union-rights/article1915220/" target="_blank">paralyzed government in Wisconsin</a> and is rapidly closing in on Washington, D.C., where it <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/jan-june11/govcuts_02-21.html" mce_href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/jan-june11/govcuts_02-21.html" target="_blank">may cripple the federal government</a> within the next two weeks. What are the origins of this plague and the prognosis for a cure?<br />
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We know the plague is highly contagious and probably air-borne because the first regional outbreak occurred in Wisconsin's western neighbor, Minnesota, and prevailing winds in the region range from SW to NW. It has an incubation period of about 4 years, during which the infrastructure of essential public services deteriorates at the rate of 4-5% per year due to deaths, retirements and emigration of a demoralized civil service, while wishful thinking abounds as to how quickly the tax benefits accruing to the upper tax brackets will <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="font-style: italic;">trickle down</span> to small business entrepreneurs, thus resulting in massive job growth which will rapidly restore fiscal health to the state. Having seen no response to this therapy in the first four years, the "No New Taxes" prescription was re-filled for another four while the rapidly ageing Boy Governor, sensing an unhappy denouement, escaped under the pretense of ascendance to the 2012 throne, leaving a deficit of $6.2 billion.<br />
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Meanwhile, downwind of Minnesota's border, another juvenile governor, mistaking the gullibility of his constituency for a wanton lack of respect for contractual law, felt the need to address Wisconsin's <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/109275069.html" mce_href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/109275069.html" target="_blank">projected budget deficit</a> on the backs of his public employees. Dire measures, indeed, for rectifying a figure so poorly known that some economic scenarios actually suggest a budget surplus! One can only wonder just what the Republicans really believe in.<br />
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George Lakoff at the Huffington Post has <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-lakoff/what-conservatives-really_b_825504.html" mce_href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-lakoff/what-conservatives-really_b_825504.html" target="_blank">sought answers to this question</a> too, taking the issue to its philosophical roots. Lakoff correctly identifies the issue as the very "moral basis of American democracy". Let us examine the contrasting views.<br />
<blockquote>In the 2008 campaign, candidate Obama accurately described the basis of American democracy: Empathy -- citizens caring for each other, both social and personal responsibility -- acting on that care, and an ethic of excellence. From these, our freedoms and our way of life follow, as does the role of government: to protect and empower everyone equally. Protection includes safety, health, the environment, pensions and empowerment starts with education and infrastructure. No one can be free without these, and without a commitment to care and act on that care by one's fellow citizens.</blockquote>One needn't be a student of biology or sociology to recognize the validity of this view. Humans are undeniably social animals, transcending their physical limitations (slowness, weakness of limb, poor olfaction and hearing, essentially hairless, and burdened by a long gestation and protracted infantile period) solely by the social/cultural context within which they live. The paragraph above doesn't really go far enough, not only can we not be <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="font-style: italic;">free </span>without our social context<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="font-style: italic;">, we cannot survive </span>in regions beyond a few degrees of latitude on either side of the equator. Note that personal responsibility and an ethic of excellence (any ethic, for that matter) can only be defined in a social/cultural context. What then, is the alternate view? Lakoff continues:<br />
<blockquote>Conservatives believe in individual responsibility alone, not social responsibility. They don't think government should help its citizens. That is, they don't think citizens should help each other. The part of government they want to cut is not the military ..., not government subsidies to corporations, not the aspect of government that fits their worldview. They want to cut the part that helps people. Why? Because that violates individual responsibility.</blockquote>This is illustrated in Lakoff's article by analogy to the ideal conservative family in which a "strict father rules". All decisions are his prerogative, he enforces the standards and determines the rights of reproduction. What follows, in the family and society as a whole, is resistance to spousal rights, opposition to abortion, resistance to taxes and government regulation of "public" assets such as health, environment, food and pharmaceutical safety, education, broadcasting, and public lands. Lakoff concludes:<br />
<blockquote>Above all, the authority of conservatism itself must be maintained. The country should be ruled by conservative values, and progressive values are seen as evil. Science should not have authority over the market, and so the science of global warming and evolution must be denied. Facts that are inconsistent with the authority of conservatism must be ignored or denied or explained away. To protect and extend conservative values themselves, the devil's own means can be used again[st] conservatism's immoral enemies, whether lies, intimidation, torture, or even death, say, for women's doctors.</blockquote>These are the values at the foundation of conservative belief. They derive from a profound misunderstanding of the degree to which each individual and generation stand upon the shoulders of their predecessors. The tiny strand of DNA that links one generation to the next carries only the barest minimum of information enabling us to grow physically and to think. All the rest of who we are and what we do, individually and collectively, depends upon cultural transmission of accumulated knowledge. If anything needs to be securely protected in transit between generations, it is the product of culture, the previous generation's incremental gain in knowledge, not the individuality of a particular strand of DNA.<br />
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If you need more proof, and an estimate of how rapidly an ancestral trail can be erased by inbreeding, examine the past few hundred years of monarchical collapse in Europe, and the remaining royal stubs wracked by congenital infirmities. Outbreeding to introduce commoner genes is clearly required to perpetuate the family line.<br />
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What does all this mean to Wisconsin governance? Simply put, Gov. Walker's <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2011/02/unions_arent_to_blame_for_wisc.html" mce_href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2011/02/unions_arent_to_blame_for_wisc.html" target="_blank">ploy to blame collective bargaining</a> for Wisconsin's fiscal woes, is both exaggerated and targeted at union-busting, rather than recognizing the truth that responsible governance incurs legitimate costs that need to be managed and supported by taxation. The paralysis in Wisconsin governance experienced over the past few days is real and will continue until the Wisconsin Senate achieves the three-fifths quorum required to pass fiscal legislation. Now that the teacher's union has agreed to the Governor's fiscal demands, the infantile reasons for this paralysis will become evident if the <a href="http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/02/21/the-end-run-wisconsin-gop-could-put-collective-bargaining-piece-in-non-fiscal-bill-and-pass-quickly/" mce_href="http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/02/21/the-end-run-wisconsin-gop-could-put-collective-bargaining-piece-in-non-fiscal-bill-and-pass-quickly/" target="_blank">conservative camp goes around the three-fifths quorum rule</a> by severing the union-busting language from the fiscal component of the budget bill. This will give pause to the city fathers of Ripon, Wisconsin, who may well change their community greeting to read: "Birthplace of the Republican <s>Party</s> Fantasies".<br />
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It is high time that the patchwork of science fiction underlying conservative delusions of self-reliance is revealed to the American electorate. Perhaps the release of "<a href="http://www.whoisjohngalt.com/2010/11/atlas-shrugged-the-movie.html" mce_href="http://www.whoisjohngalt.com/2010/11/atlas-shrugged-the-movie.html" target="_blank">Who is John Galt</a>?" in April will provide new opportunities to re-examine these fairy tales. Continuation on the present path is a Grimm prospect, indeed.<br />
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Cross-posted to The Renaissance Post<br />
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</div>Salmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03266325817485680629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-25092926223480755612011-02-12T19:41:00.001-06:002011-02-12T19:41:41.402-06:00Best Idea in 5000 YearsBorn on this day in 1809, it is appropriate to celebrate the intellectual and human freedoms promised by the work of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin" target="_blank">Charles Darwin</a> and Abraham Lincoln. Coupled with Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, issued only four years after “The Origin of Species”, these documents mark the dawn of a new awareness in 19th Century life, that would prove to be every bit as empowering as the Renaissance in Europe had been during the 14th to 16th centuries.<br />
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<span id="more-1048"></span>For his part, Lincoln signed an Executive Order in 1863, the <a href="http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_proclamation/" target="_blank">Emancipation Proclamation</a>, widely recognized as a foundation document along the way to abolishing slavery. The order strengthened the Union cause both politically and militarily at a critical point midway through the Civil War. Codification of the abolition of slavery would follow in Constitutional amendments in succeeding years.<br />
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Darwin’s enunciation of the principles of biological evolution was, in the words of the great human ecologist, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Shepard" target="_blank">Paul Shepard</a>, “the best idea of the past 5000 years”. Just as Copernicus, Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, and Newton had brought forth their ideas into human societies struggling to understand the cosmic and physical world around them, Darwin articulated a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/including-editions-Expression-Autobiography-ebook/dp/B001EW522E/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1297517708&sr=1-12" target="_blank">succession of ideas</a> that almost instantaneously synthesized observations of the world’s organisms over the preceding two millenia. The compelling framework he described not only explained the diversity of life, but also provided insight into the mechanisms responsible for the distribution, distinctiveness and emergence of diverse forms of plants and animals.<br />
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Few works in literature or science have required so little interpretation for their meaning to be clearly understood. Yet the verity and implications of Darwin’s work were so threatening to established Western religions, that even a century and a half later, we still have a plethora of religious apologists imagining and espousing <a href="http://www.actionbioscience.org/evolution/nhmag.html" target="_blank">unsupported alternatives</a> to Darwin’s principles. The protestations of Martin Luther against the Mother Church pale in comparison to the havoc that Darwinian principles hold for the Abrahamic religions and all their derivatives.<br />
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It is long past the time for the mannerly traditions of polite discourse to continue to brook the inane ramblings of creationists and racial supremacists. Instead, we can use the occasion of Darwin and Lincoln’s births to examine the question of what kind of society we want around us. One riddled with fear, mysticism and superstition? Or, one joyous of creativity, imagination, diversity, critical judgement and reason?<br />
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Some day, perhaps we will be able to fully understand the broadest possible meaning of, “We Hold These Truths to be Self-evident…”<br />
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Cross-posted to The Renaissance PostSalmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03266325817485680629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-8371072396959567012011-02-10T12:38:00.002-06:002011-02-11T06:00:49.994-06:00Health Insurance? Surely, you Jest!<div style="font: 14.2px Georgia; line-height: 18.3px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 15.0px 0.0px;">The issue has never been one of insurance, but of health care. Young people don't worry much about it, elders do. Confusion may stem from the notion of "Life Insurance" which is recognized (when purchased at a young age) as an investment because everyone knows you can't insure against death; accidents, yes (hence "term" insurance), but death, no. So the misnomer has gotten us into trouble because it is a deception, just as the "Patriot Act" has nothing to do with patriotism, rather it is used instead of "tyranny" or "authoritarian", two more accurate, but less endearing terms.</div><a name='more'></a>We need to pay forward for health care that we will need in the future, rather than paying after the fact as we are trying to do now. When you register for your Social Security card, you should also be signing up for contributions to future health care. The taxation should be progressive, not flat or regressive. Small contributions early in life, and carefully invested in funds pegged to dynamic indices of economic status, will be sufficient to pay for increases in health care costs as the individual ages.<br />
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<div style="font: 14.2px Georgia; line-height: 18.3px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 15.0px 0.0px;">This is not "socialist" but paying for your own care in advance. More a way of insuring the rest of society that they won't have to pay your bills when you can't scrawl out your own checks. Yes, the population may have to be compelled or required to do this, because freeloaders will be searching for loopholes, but, if they don't like it, they can choose to live somewhere else. And, while we're at it, those whose children are already fledged, together with singles and childless couples who resent taxes spent on education, can choose to live in an uneducated society.</div><div style="font: 14.2px Georgia; line-height: 18.3px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 15.0px 0.0px;">Yeah, but suppose you never get sick!<br />
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Cross-posted to the Renaissance Post</div>Salmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03266325817485680629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-9281754075344900402011-02-06T16:04:00.003-06:002011-02-06T17:08:06.528-06:00Coming Home to Roost<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font: normal normal normal 13px/19px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.6em; padding-left: 0.6em; padding-right: 0.6em; padding-top: 0.6em;">Today we recall, on what would have been Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday, the various hills and valleys traversed in world history as a <a href="http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Ronald_Reagan/RonaldReagan_page.html" mce_href="http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Ronald_Reagan/RonaldReagan_page.html" target="_blank">consequence of his election</a> to the Presidency of the United States. There will be claims and counter-claims as to the President's involvement in, or, even knowledge of, events such as the "<a href="http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/north/north.html" mce_href="http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/north/north.html" target="_blank">arms for hostages</a>" exchange, or support for the death squads of the banana republic "<a href="http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Global_Secrets_Lies/HxGuatemala_DeathSquads.html" mce_href="http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Global_Secrets_Lies/HxGuatemala_DeathSquads.html" target="_blank">freedom fighters</a>". We will argue whether it was Reagan's ascendency as a world leader, or the crushing weight of its own bureaucracy that brought about the dissolution of the Soviet Union. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Bright', Verdana, Georgia, Inherit, 'Times New Roman', Arial, sans-serif, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Because Reagan was so insistent upon revisiting the principles of governance exemplified by the writing of the founding fathers, we should re-examine those principles, beginning with the proposition that all politics are local.</span><br />
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<a name='more'></a>Let us take this opportunity to examine events closer to home. It is often said among our friends and neighbors, "Sure, I'm gonna vote, for all the difference it will make!" This well-known and, often pardoned, sentiment is a commonplace event in discussing domestic politics. Yet, deep down, we vote because we believe that it might make a difference in our governance. We also believe that the platforms of our candidates' parties mean something tangible in our lives.<br />
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Let us examine just one "plank" in the Republican Party platform, that of "limited government". Many interpretations are possible, so let's look at just one, that of "smaller government". Smaller than what? Does this mean lower taxes, as the wealthy members of the Minnesota Taxpayer's League would have us believe? Smaller than the present Minnesota government, or the Minnesota of Alexander Ramsey? Or, does this mean government smaller than New Jersey's, or, South Dakota's? Does this mean that government appropriate for 150 million citizens is large enough for 300 million? Wouldn't that mean a soup thinned by half for the population as a whole? Smaller relative to a government at war with Germany and Japan, or not at war at all? No one knows, no one says, leaving us to fantasize at will.<br />
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Let us imagine that taxes can be frozen, and government agencies, rife with waste and lazy civil servants, can be allowed to atrophy at the death, relocation and retirement rate of about 4-5% per year. Hmmm, think compound interest accumulating over a 4-year gubernatorial term, or, 8 years! Wow, that could save a lot of money! Teachers, snowplow operators, license agents, policemen and restaurant inspectors can just do a little bit more on each shift to cover for the absent employees. Times are tough; we can all shoulder a slightly greater burden. We could even have the Lieutenant Governor double as Transportation Commissioner. Savoring yet another daydream, suppose we elect a woman as Lieutenant Governor? We get (choose your own flavor: 1) a person who can accomplish twice as much as any mortal man, or, 2) we have to pay her only half as much as a man would get).<br />
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Even the most outrageous fantasies can have egregious consequences. This one played out a few years after Tim Pawlenty, Boy Governor, was elected on the promise of "no new taxes", when years of erosion of infrastructure in Minnesota led to the collapse of an interstate highway bridge over the Mississippi River, killing 13 individuals, and injuring 124 others who trusted their government to provide safe passage on public highways. Then Governor Tim Pawlenty, quick to recognize a tragedy where innocent people gave up their lives, said "This is a catastrophe of historic proportions for Minnesota,… We are doing everything we can to make sure we respond as quickly as we can to this emergency." Too late, Boy Governor, to admit that governance is a matter of investment in a people's future rather than a patchwork of knee-jerk responses to catastrophes like Katrina and bridge collapse.<br />
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No amount of revisionist history and post facto rationalization can obscure the fact that a demoralized MN Dept. of Transportation, ravaged by years of under-staffing and under-budgeting, and the predations of unscrupulous "free-market contractors", abdicated its responsibility to inspect, analyze and oversee the structural integrity of the bridges in the state. The Twin Cities' CBS broadcast affiliate, WCCO, upon <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20080305201549/http://wcco.com/breakingnewsalerts/carol.molnau.job.2.664858.html" mce_href="http://web.archive.org/web/20080305201549/http://wcco.com/breakingnewsalerts/carol.molnau.job.2.664858.html" target="_blank">reporting the firing</a> of then Transportation Commissioner Carol Molnau noted the legislative struggles: Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller blamed Pawlenty appointed Molnau for standing with Pawlenty as he rejected bills that would have given her department more money. "She told committees over and over and over again that we didn't need the money,..." The bridge disaster was the culmination of the career of Transportation Commissioner Carol Molnau, once boastful of simultaneously holding both the Transportation Commissioner's job and the Lieutenant Governor's job! Well done Tim and Carol!<br />
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So, could a change of political parties be in order? Who is the pot calling the kettle black? Could the DFL have overcome the narcissistic smugness of their party in hammering out a bipartisan solution mindful of the needs of the electorate? Where is <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="font-style: italic;">their</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="font-style: italic;">skill and expertise in compromise? </span>The bridge of bipartisanship carries two-way traffic.<br />
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How can such devastation be avoided in the future? Were incompetent engineers at fault? Whoa! Most of us who are not licensed or certified to practice medicine or law, or to teach or engineer public works, would be amazed at the training, skills and dedication required to succeed in these professions. Incompetent, not! Simply too few to do what is necessary to accommodate a population growing without bound and individually demanding what they perceive to be their fair share of public resources.<br />
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All eligible voters in Minnesota are responsible for this tragedy. When did you last question the beliefs, the credentials, the numeracy, the literacy, and the judgement of those for whom you voted? Have you even spoken to an elected official, person-to-person, since the last election? We must demand answers to questions about their beliefs, the education of our children, the existence of "invisible hands" guiding economic policy, and the adequacy of our roads, bridges, emergency services and snow removal.<br />
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It is our responsibility to remember that our government is as we make it, one vote at a time.<br />
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(Cross-posted to the Renaissance Post)</div>Salmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03266325817485680629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-38022743784517932492011-02-01T11:32:00.002-06:002011-02-06T16:10:26.918-06:00Procustes ad infinitum<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font: normal normal normal 13px/19px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.6em; padding-left: 0.6em; padding-right: 0.6em; padding-top: 0.6em;"><br />
"There you go again..." is the only possible response to the <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/news/health/florida-judge-rules-federal-health-care-legislation-is-unconstitutional/1148731" mce_href="http://www.tampabay.com/news/health/florida-judge-rules-federal-health-care-legislation-is-unconstitutional/1148731" target="_blank">procustean pronouncement</a> of Judge Roger Vinson in his ruling on the Affordable Care Act. Rising from his constitutional procustean bed to compete with the inanity of <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diane-dimond/the-need-for-justice-does_b_767414.html" mce_href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diane-dimond/the-need-for-justice-does_b_767414.html" target="_blank">Mississippi jurisprudence</a>, the honorable Florida jurist has decreed, "I must reluctantly conclude that Congress exceeded the bounds of its authority in passing the Act with the individual mandate. Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire Act must be declared void."<br />
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This atrocious interpretation will undoubtedly dictate that mandatory automobile liability coverage is also constitutionally illegal for all those states requiring it of their automobile owners. Here, the court seems to be requiring that everything we do in daily life be pre-authorized in the founding document. Such nonsense is precisely contrary to the judgement of thousands of political science scholars who have, over the past two centuries, been praising the document for its ambiguity. No mere return to the fantasy of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Originalism" mce_href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Originalism" target="_self">originalism</a>, this is the judicial antithesis to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precautionary_principle" mce_href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precautionary_principle" target="_blank">precautionary principle</a> currently embraced by all sentient risk assessment experts.<br />
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Judge Vinson and like-minded ideologues would have us believe that we should conduct our affairs according to the worldviews of great thinkers who kept slaves, deprived women of a say in governance, and forgot to include the Bill of Rights in the original governing document. What did they <i>not know about</i>? Here are a few REALLY IMPORTANT THINGS: that disease can be caused by microorganisms (and cured by antibiotics); that E=MC<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_fixed="1" mce_name="sup" mce_style="vertical-align: super;" style="vertical-align: super;">2</span> ; that men (and, presumably, the unacknowledged women) can travel to (and from) the moon; that biological organisms have evolved (and continue to do so) according to their biological fitness; that the earth is about 5 billion years old; that ships can travel from Europe to Asia <i>under </i>the north polar ice cap; that a <a href="http://article.wn.com/view/2010/05/16/Australian_girl_sailor_circumnavigates_globe/" mce_href="http://article.wn.com/view/2010/05/16/Australian_girl_sailor_circumnavigates_globe/" target="_blank">16-year-old girl can sail solo around the world</a> (and live to tell about it); that humans can fly above the earth (and land) safely; that San Francisco is a city; that nuclear fission is dangerous; that dynamite would be invented in less than a century; that nuclear fusion fuels the sun and (thereby) all life on earth; that DNA is readable and codes for the shape of their noses; that organs from dead humans (not long dead, mind you) can be transplanted into living ones; that the village of Auschwitz would have special ovens in about 150 years (and modern people maintaining their ignorance of them); that carbon fiber string would conduct electricity even better than Ben's kite string; that Native Americans are at least 3/5ths of a person (maybe more); that Vitamin C can prevent scurvy; and, oh, Hell, we just can't repeat it all here, AIDS, microwave ovens, subways, six billion humans simultaneously alive on the planet, radio, automobiles, the internet. Suffice it to say that the ignorance of the "Founding Fathers" would fill volumes, nay, libraries, as we have acknowledged in the information age. They may have found it comforting to know that we are still trying to prove, in the absence of any empirical evidence whatsoever, that there is life after death.<br />
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Are the framers of our Constitution, or, their holy script, really the authorities who should be in charge of determining our own health care policy, foreign policy, science or educational policies? Were they promising us a real opportunity to govern ourselves in the future, or only a monstrous apparition that could re-assert its authority whenever the narrow economic interests of selected plutocrats are threatened? In the face of the limits of knowledge of the Founding Fathers, how can we bequeath to our own children the idea that these old white men, experienced as they may have been in the frailties of human existence, were of such prescience that they could be entrusted with writing indelible code for life hereafter in these United States, or in the world to which we belong?<br />
Judge Vinson's "reluctance" is clearly not sufficient to ensure sound governance. Surely a modest revision of our own Constitution, incorporating what we know now and eschewing unprovable myths, might be a productive step toward life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the future. Perhaps it is time for yet another Continental Congress.<br />
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One can only hope that a higher court will strike down this egregious lower court ruling before its vapors can reach the Supreme Court where the likes of Scalia and Thomas can stir it into the judicial broth with the eye of Newt.<br />
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Cross-posted to The Renaissance Post</div>Salmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03266325817485680629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-40244049486218127272011-01-23T15:39:00.007-06:002011-02-06T16:11:10.920-06:00Nominate NBC for the Darwin Award<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Bright', Verdana, Georgia, Inherit, 'Times New Roman', Arial, sans-serif, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Bright', Verdana, Georgia, Inherit, 'Times New Roman', Arial, sans-serif, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; line-height: normal;"></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Bright', Verdana, Georgia, Inherit, 'Times New Roman', Arial, sans-serif, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; line-height: normal;"></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Bright', Verdana, Georgia, Inherit, 'Times New Roman', Arial, sans-serif, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; line-height: normal;"></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Bright', Verdana, Georgia, Inherit, 'Times New Roman', Arial, sans-serif, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; line-height: normal;"></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Bright', Verdana, Georgia, Inherit, 'Times New Roman', Arial, sans-serif, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; line-height: normal;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Bright', Verdana, Georgia, Inherit, 'Times New Roman', Arial, sans-serif, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; line-height: normal;">Keith Olberman’s firing represents an example of why corporate America cannot be allowed the privileges of </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Bright', Verdana, Georgia, Inherit, 'Times New Roman', Arial, sans-serif, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">moral beings in governance (as in the </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Bright', Verdana, Georgia, Inherit, 'Times New Roman', Arial, sans-serif, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><em style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Citizens United v. FEC </em></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Bright', Verdana, Georgia, Inherit, 'Times New Roman', Arial, sans-serif, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">decision). The problem is not the virtually anonymous and certainly soul-less bean-counting of soul-less executives reviewing polls and </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Bright', Verdana, Georgia, Inherit, 'Times New Roman', Arial, sans-serif, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://mydd.com/2006/9/11/olbermann-on-fire-surges-past-zahn-in-ratings" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #123456; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">Nielsen ratings</a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Bright', Verdana, Georgia, Inherit, 'Times New Roman', Arial, sans-serif, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">. After all, could any of us pick Phil Griffin, Steve Capus, or Brian Roberts out of a lineup? Rather, the problem rests in unaccountability for mindless decisions like this. There has clearly been a conscious effort among MSNBC executives to REFUSE TO THINK, a sin condemned by luminaries from Plato to Ayn Rand.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Bright', Verdana, Georgia, Inherit, 'Times New Roman', Arial, sans-serif, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><a name='more'></a> In attempting to abandon what they perceive as the sinking ship of rationalization, these rodents expect to subsist on the leavings of the Becks and Limbaughs. There is simply no room in the caboose of that train to accommodate any more under-achievers in the broadcast industries.</span></span></div></span></span><div class="entry" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Needless speculation abounds as to whether Olberman’s firing was related to his earlier reprimand for <a href="http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/Why-MSNBC-May-Have-Just-Lost-Keith-Olbermann-5678" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #123456; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">“unauthorized” campaign contributions</a>, or, because of Comcast’s consumption of the last vestiges of clearly articulated liberal thought in America’s network media. It really doesn’t matter if the narrow-mindedness of the executives at MSNBC, or, Olberman’s deliberate flaunting of company policy is to blame for his departure. If you need further assurance about the dangers inherent in such executive decisions, consider Griffin’s characterization of NBC’s “no political donations without permission policy”. In a NY Times blog, Griffin is said to refer to this pathway to fascism as a company standard. STANDARD! Look it up!</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The simple truth is that the limited liability of corporate executives, and, the limited responsibility of the corporations themselves, leads very naturally to a reduction in diversity of thought. The “bottom line”, universally revered by corporate executives and stockholders alike, is too simple-minded an objective to permanently engage the creative thinking of genuinely imaginative people.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Why does all this matter to an informed public? Because the public is becoming increasingly less able to be informed! There is already a very limited range of opinion being expressed by our news media from all sources combined. Print, cable, satellite and internet access to information are already subscription services, requiring cash outlay for citizens to be informed about what is happening. The broadcast media, traditionally “free” radio and television, have abandoned journalism for info/entertainment, glutting prime time public offerings with “reality” fantasies, and titillating gossip about the misadventures of besotted celebrities.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Hark back to the time when the FCC, cognizant of limited <a href="http://www.communication.illinois.edu/csandvig/research/Access_to_the_Electromagnetic_Spectrum.pdf" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #123456; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum</a>, carefully parceled out precious wavelengths to public broadcasting. After slicing and dicing said spectrum to provide for military use, emergency services, telephones, and garage door openers, little was left to distribute among broadcasters, so assignment of frequencies was not only judicious, but carried with it a responsibility to adhere to defined standards (defined in its traditional sense) of accuracy and decency. With the emasculation of the FCC (among a host of other agencies) by the fantasies of Reagonomics, we are left with a plethora of broadcasters in the subscription services, elected not by ballots, but by remote controllers. Where, in the corporate charters of these entities is there a requirement for balance, or, even opposite extremes, of opinion? If we try to remedy this condition by subscribing to them all, are we accepting the insidious notion that the spectrum of opinion being offered is broad enough to encompass all viewpoints? It is not, and, we’re all the poorer for it.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">So our spectrum of political commentary has suffered a staggering blow at the hands of corporate whim. Short of re-arranging our workdays so we can all watch Rachel Maddow, nowhere in sight is there a remedy that will reliably ensure that our menu of political opinion will not be solely the result of Americans’ appetites for beer or medications for “erectile dysfunction”.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Thank goodness for NPR. Enjoy it while you can.</div></div></span></span><br />
<div class="entry" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: 'Lucida Bright', Verdana, Georgia, Inherit, 'Times New Roman', Arial, sans-serif, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Thalweg--Cross-posted to the Renaissance Post</div></div>Salmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03266325817485680629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3057669868306095061.post-14965331848519641272011-01-22T21:47:00.001-06:002011-02-06T16:11:44.943-06:00The Road to TheocracyJust moments after President Reagan had been taken to the hospital following John Hinckley's attempt to assassinate him, Secretary of State Alexander Haig pronounced: "As of now I am in control here in the White House." Oops, not even close to the Constitutional intent for presidential succession. Secretary of State (Hilary Clinton, today) is fifth in line, rather than second. Even worse, the President had not been declared unable to fulfill the duties of his office.<br />
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While this gaffe is often thought to have ended Haig's nascent hopes for a political future, it is fair to ask just who, or, what, <i>is</i> in control of the Office of the President of the United States. <br />
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During his election campaign and presidency, Jimmy Carter made it clear that he was a devoted Christian. He also distinguished between the secular life and the religious life and, <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,179825,00.html">when asked</a>, reiterated his inaugural pledge to uphold the law of the land and the Constitution of the United States. He made it abundantly clear that the business of governance was a secular one. He even cited Mark 12:17 as justification for this view. No such rationalization has been forthcoming from any sitting President since Carter left office.<br />
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Quite the contrary.<br />
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Let us look briefly at the recent past in the G. W. Bush administration. David Domke, <a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2002257816_sundaydomke01.html">writing for the Seattle Times</a>, noted that the Dubya presidency would regularly conflate the notion of freedom and liberty with his own interpretation of what the deity wanted for the people of the world. Nine days after the 9-11 tragedy, "the president issued these powerful words: 'The course of this conflict is not known, yet its outcome is certain. Freedom and fear, justice and cruelty have always been at war, and we know that God is not neutral between them.' " Just whose God stands behind the President's remarks? Domke further notes: "In his recent second-term inaugural address, Bush mentioned a higher power seven times and used the words freedom or liberty, in some form, 49 times. Even if such beliefs are genuine (and I [Domke] don't doubt that they are), such a heavy presidential emphasis is strongly suggestive that there is a strategy behind the words — a wholly reasonable interpretation given this administration's long and documented history of political calculus."<br />
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The electorate is again wondering, does the President really think he receives guidance from the Deity, or, is it all merely a strategy to align political forces that are reliably conservative? Fast forward to 2011 with NBC's Brian Williams interviewing John Boehner, just installed as Speaker of the House (3rd in succession---shudder). Asked where he <span id="goog_303905216"></span><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619//vp/40954114#40954114">gets his strength</a><span id="goog_303905217"></span>, Boehner replied, "I pray...sometimes, I pray all day..." And, last week, Reince Priebus was elected Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Who could more <a href="http://www.sba-list.org/suzy-b-blog/rnc-chairman-candidate-reince-priebus-expresses-pro-life-positions-sba-interview">clearly state that his political </a> positions derive directly from fundamentalist fantasy rather than rational judgement. What has happened to "separation of church and state?"<br />
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As Sam Harris repeatedly warns throughout <a href="http://www.samharris.org/site/book_end_of_faith/">"The End of Faith"</a>, we should not take for granted that political figures merely allude to their religiosity to reassure their constituencies that they hold beliefs common to all. The question here is "common to whom?" Do these elected officials <i>really believe</i> the dogma espoused by their designated religions? <br />
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Harris also presents a very illuminating thought experiment. "Imagine that we could revive a well-educated Christian of the fourteenth Century. The man would prove to be a total ignoramus, except on matters of faith. His beliefs about geography, astronomy, and medicine would embarrass even a child, but he would know, more or less, everything there is to know about God. Though he would be considered a fool to think that the earth is the center of the cosmos, ..., his religious ideas would still be considered to be beyond reproach."<br />
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This insightful reflection challenges each of us to ask why it remains virtually impossible to question a political candidate's faith or religious beliefs. When an elected official claims to receive guidance from "a higher power" isn't it appropriate to ask what form that guidance takes? Is a vote about to be cast by an elected official being made under the duress of a vengeful God? Would believers and non-believers be equally vulnerable to such vengeance? Is it responsible decision-making for a politician to consult a coven of self-proclaimed witches for advice about governance? Does the statement: "life begins at conception" have a meaningful interpretation in medicine, biology, law, or religion? "Freedom of choice" has the same meaning in all these and other disciplines.<br />
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The upshot of all these deliberations is that President Carter, and the Founding Fathers, notably <a href="http://www.adherents.com/people/pa/John_Adams.html">John Adams</a>, <a href="http://www.adherents.com/people/pf/Benjamin_Franklin.html">Benjamin Franklin</a>, and <a href="http://www.adherents.com/people/pj/Thomas_Jefferson.html">Thomas Jefferson</a> were compelled to proclaim the necessity of a separation of church and state, if for no other reason, than to prevent the mutual corruption of one by the other. All were cognizant of the history of violent conflict among inter-sectarian beliefs and inter-faith beliefs. Who among Catholics and Protestants, Shia and Sunni, Mormons and Baptists, Christians and Jews, or Muslims and Christians could guarantee under their religious charters that their brand of governance would ensure equal protection under the law for all citizens, irrespective of their race, gender, sexual orientation or religious beliefs? <br />
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If there is ever a litmus test for fitness for political office in these United States, it ought to involve a declaration that political decisions based upon evidence, critical analysis, and reason will always trump those fueled by fear, mysticism, superstition and uncritical (and unaccountable) authority.Salmohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03266325817485680629noreply@blogger.com0