10/10/11

Wanna earn $32K for a Yes Vote Join The GOP and Run for Congress

Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act of 2011 - House Vote: On Passage | Campaign Contributions By Vote | MAPLight.org - Money and Politics:

If you vote no your supporters will give you two grand. Sick politics. Sick results. Sick society.


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This is what GOP Congress does to earn its living

Concrete, Building Industries Seek Delay to Upcoming EPA Ruling | MAPLight.org - Money and Politics: "Oct. 4, 2011 - The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to take up the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act of 2011 (HR 2681) on Wednesday, a bill that would push back the deadline for the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to issue achievable standards for cement manufacturing facilities.

The bill is supported by Americans for Prosperity, The John Birch Society, the National Association of Manufacturers, Associated General Contractors, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as well as members of the Stone, clay, glass & concrete products industry such as Lehigh Hanson, Inc. and the Portland Cement Association. The bill is opposed by environmental groups such as the Environmental Integrity Project and the Natural Resources Defense Council."

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Republika Srpska stirs Balkan pot

Bosnia: What Does Republika Srpska Want? - International Crisis Group: "If the leaders of Bosnia’s Serb-dominated Republika Srpska (RS) continue driving every conflict with Sarajevo to the brink, they risk disaster for themselves, the country and the Western Balkans."

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Cornel West Makes Some Sense

Focus on the funk: an interview with Cornel West « The Immanent Frame: "you remember that wonderful letter by one of my great heroes, Samuel Beckett, where he says “Heidegger may talk about being and Sartre may talk about existence, but I talk about the mess. And my fundamental aim as an artist is to try to find a form that accommodates the mess?” Well, Beckett’s mess is my funk. And by funk, what I mean is, wrestling with the wounds, the scars, the bruises, as well as the creative responses to wounds, scars, and bruises—some of them inflicted because of structures and institutions, some of them being tied to our existential condition, in terms of losses of loved ones, in terms of diseases, in terms of betrayals of friends, and so forth; all of these are wounds and scars and bruises. And it’s at that very concrete level that my concept of philosophy operates. "

Interesting interview. Not with West on his arch views of Obama but this is an opening to respect of a sort.

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Human Rights Watch Scores US on Capital Punishment

US: An Attack on Human Dignity | Human Rights Watch: "October 10, 2011 is the ninth annual World Day against the Death Penalty, and this year marks 35 years since the United States reinstated capital punishment in 1976. In that time, 1,271 people have been electrocuted, shot, hanged, gassed, or put to death by lethal injection. In September, the state of Georgia executed Troy Davis despite significant doubts about his guilt. Texas executed its 475th prisoner since 1976. During that time, Texas has by far executed the largest number of people of any US state."

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Value could also be tied to duration

ShortFormContent at Blogger: Mass modular building is the key to the resuscitation of our economy:

Conventional value is what one associates with use, usefulness, meaning, something that means something to someone. We live in a world where value is ambient because so much is disposable, disposed of, of little or no duration. Much that we buy does not last, is not built to last, is disposable. I am not sure whether we should value duration or go with the flow of disposable, recycling, letting time determine use. We build value as replacement. We build brands around models. The language of our culture is the language of transience, of momentary excitement, of destruction, of acceptable destruction. When I say value could be tied to duration I am thinking of qualities that make things worth keeping, worth valuing, central. This seems to a a minimalist and subjective thing. Fewer things. More duration.

Thailand Flooding Disaster

Mapping the Thailand Flooding Disaster · Global Voices: "As of the time of writing, 252 people have already died in Thailand due to more than two months of heavy rains. Many parts of Bangkok, the country’s capital, are already submerged in floodwaters."

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From Miciah's Mouth to Jehosephat's Ears

Feud Over TransCanada Tar Sands Pipeline Burns White Hot: "WASHINGTON, DC, October 10, 2011 (ENS) - Public comment on the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline from the Alberta tar sands to refineries on the Gulf Coast closed at midnight Sunday, with the battle still raging over environmental impacts vs energy security and jobs. Accusations of an environment impact study tainted by croneyism and a lawsuit over construction commencement before approval are the latest developments in this ongoing fight."

You know the end of this. We will have the pipeline. Expediency. And later doom. Desecration. Noxious oil all over. This is a charade. It is like King Jehosephat being serious when he asks the prophet Miciah whether he should go into battle. The king is going whatever Miciah says.


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When consistency is not bliss

Daily Kos: Abbreviated Pundit Round-up: The Economics edition:

It is not bliss to say that everyone misses the boat when they do not start with big oil. And with the design dominance that produced sprawl. And with the social dislocation that takes place when public and private are skewing as we speak. All these tell why the economists are whistling in the wind and therefore the pundits run around in circles. Do I need to explain that housing of all sorts, buildings of all sorts are toast? That sprawl is waiting for the bulldozer? That until we value public equally with private we will have a world that is in a word inhuman. The people know all this in their hearts and minds. It is surfacing now in a realization that we need a values revolution, not an agenda tweak.

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Doesn't rain but it pours

Issa: Subpoenas Coming for ‘Fast and Furious’ - The Daily Beast: "The chairman of the House Oversight Committee insisted Sunday that subpoenas will soon be issued to White House officials over the botched gun-trafficking operation known as Fast and Furious. On Fox News Sunday, Issa suggested Attorney General Eric Holder knew of the operation sooner than he claims, and Issa asked “why are [the Obama administration] denying knowing about something they were briefed on?"

A novelist would be coming to the nadir about now. From this low point the President gathers resources and manifests a new strength. The ending is happy.

The mantra someone who has been around the block numerous times can offer is this: Cover up and die. Be honest and win. For everything there is a reason.

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Occupy Wall Street can be a values revolution

Don’t Mistake Occupy Wall Street for Team Obama | Common Dreams: "But they don’t own Occupy Wall Street anymore. That was evident Thursday morning, when the encampment began to fill with even more arrivals. And some of the new faces showing up in Zuccotti seem more representative of the working-class angst gripping the country."

Nietzsche correctly said that the task of all creative human beings is the revaluation of values. We can see this as skewering the values that have reigned hitherto. Among these is honor, which has become the talisman of competition, warfare and hierarchy. Those who seek a different focus turn not to specific religions but to the universal perspectives found in persons who are the antiphon of honor and other "manly virtues". One derives from such an exploration the values of non-idolatry, tolerance, democracy and helpfulness, a quadrilateral cluster of values which remain true whether one accepts them or not. They roll back nominalism and concede a place for eternal verities. And for the eventual triumph of reason. We have progress apace even in a world where hysteria is easily manufactured and even encouraged by our corporate advertisers. But the revolution underway will "honor" to the nomads of the universe who embrace no platform save these values and insist that the world conform to them in all that is done. A values revolution!


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Dear Egypt, tolerance is part of the package

Prime minister says Egypt 'scrambling' after at least 23 killed in clashes - CNN.com:

The four ontological values are non-idolatry, tolerance, democracy and helpfulness. When democracy is the only value and pushed to the fore, we forget that the value of tolerance is a protection against weakness that we all share. Tolerance is the strength to swallow what you do not personally like. When this value is suppressed the mob comes forth on all sides and the ancient principalities and powers play out their ancient games. And lives are lost. Carry forward with non-idolatry the root and add to democratic fervor and helpfulness the resolute and courageous value we call tolerance. It is something anyone at any time can will and it signals an inner freedom that is worth more than gold.

Riding in on horseback coming home in body bags

Close Read : The New Yorker: "Some of the first ones in rode horses; that was talked about in a way that was meant to be thrilling, as if our soldiers had stepped back in time. Now that moment itself is receding, without the war having ended."

Apt parentheses for a sad ten years of our history.


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These are hardly distractions

Sex, race, and religion: Speed bumps along the campaign trail - CSMonitor.com: "Mitt Romney's religion, Herman Cain's comments about Muslims, Rick Perry's hunting camp with the racially-offensive name – just a few of the distractions along the 2012 campaign trail."

All who write a lot are guilty of loose language. To call these things distractions merely means the media are not willing to dig deeper into the actual story that each of these signs point to - what may be a foundation of American exceptionalism, the political utility of playing on popular fears of terror and the casual racism that underlies the virulent racism that is fuelling our politics so ... casually.

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Remembering Doris Allison

Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement Veterans -- Doris Allison: "Mrs Doris Allison, life long civil rights activist at Jackson, Mississippi; close friend of many decades; died at her home at Jackson on August 27, 2004. With her husband, Ben, who survives she is Godparent of my grandson/son, Thomas, himself half Mississippi Choctaw of Red Water [Leake and Neshoba] roots."

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15 Minutes of Shame

Somebody threw a hot dog at Tiger Woods during a tournament - Devil Ball Golf - Golf Blog - Yahoo! Sports:

I think this began with W and a shoe in Iraq.

RECCMENDATION Richard Gordon Quantum Touch

The Slow as Molasses Press