I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

—Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1818

WHAT: Winter Bicycling Expo and Fashion Show
WHEN: Friday, 11 December, 6-10 pm; Fashion Show, 7:30-8 pm
WHERE: Ohio City Bicycle Co-op 1840 Columbus Rd, Cleveland, Ohio 44113
CONTACT: Jim Sheehan, Director, OCBC—216.820. 2667 or cell 216.346.3526 (cell)

The runway show will begin at 7:30 pm; it will feature a diverse group of local cyclists who ride regularly through the winter exhibiting their personal favorite clothing, gear, and tips and tricks in a “runway” fashion show format—but on bikes!

The basket raffle will close at 9pm (winners need not be present). After that, if there is snow, we’ll have snow-bikes and studded snow tires to test out.

This event is $5 to attend. All proceeds benefit OCBC’s educational mission to “help people use bikes.”

About the Ohio City Bicycle Co-op: OCBC is a non-profit, volunteer-driven, cooperative bicycle education center offering riding and repair classes; refurbished used bikes for sale or rent; hands-on learning and shop credit for volunteering; and public bike-repair shop use, advice, and assistance.

Previously…

I get the feeling that Mayor Frank Jackson is so taken with himself that he imagines himself a Philosopher King.

He has become the Great Pontificator. You can hear in his talk a belief of his omnipotence. A very risky flaw.

If you listened to Channel 20—the city’s TV outlet—and a program entitled ”Frank Talk,” starring the mayor, you would know what I mean.

I caught – at least twice – parts of a recent officious display of the seemingly mild-mannered Jackson’s performance of explaining the world according to Frank.

Let me tell you, it’s an experience.

With the Cleveland murder rate zooming up, Jackson the philosopher compared the essence of violence here to that of the terrorist events in Paris. And he didn’t leave out ISIS.

The casualness of his vision of extremism’s connection to what is going on in Cleveland crime was shocking to me.

The city has suffered indiscriminate drive-by shootings. They have resulted in deaths of “non-combatants. Particularly disturbing, the deaths of children—even babies. Random victims.

(Murders in Cleveland have gone from 68 in 2011 to 118 as of end of November, a councilman who keeps track says.)

Yet, our philosopher mayor seems preoccupied with sociological speculations of little merit. The same underlying cause of the Paris massacre—feelings of injustice Continue Reading »

There is, in light of 1 Corinthians 13:11, more than a little irony in this cartoon as well.

Then there are the 1,046 (and counting) dead at the hands of our police so far in 2015 (especially in Kern County, California)…

Meanwhile, Republicans lines up to crush gun control efforts…

Are we expected to believe that the Cleveland police—responding to the call that someone with a gun was near the children’s swings—were looking for a gunman to still be there when they arrived?

Responding to the call and driving to the site, Officer Frank Garmback, in a letter (first public statement) says the call said the “gunman” was “on or near the swing set.” A swing-set gunman?

First thing I’d think is that I’m dealing with a kid. He may be on the swing or near the swings. Tamir Rice is a child. Was.

What the officers, who broke silence by giving written statements to a county sheriff’s deputy, expect us to buy further is that driving by empty swings they come upon someone (not showing a gun) in a nearby gazebo.

And they yell to him, presumably thinking this is the “gunman” – “Show me your hands.” Did anyone hear anything?

He looks older than he is, they say. In seconds. He’s only 12 and photos I’ve seen indicate this is a boy, not an adult despite his 5-7 height and 195 weight.

The officers, apparently the city, and the county prosecutor—and if that’s the case, the grand jury too – expect you to believe statements by an officer who shot a couple of seconds upon arrival in a police cruiser poorly guided by another officer. They were dealing with a potential killer.

They expect you not to see or believe the film that reveals exactly what happened. Quick and deadly.

An officer as he gets out of the vehicle starts to fire his weapon almost immediately. Some deem it within two seconds. How more immediate can one get?

The boy – and he was a boy – is walking toward the car.

What that says to me is he’s curious not criminal.

They say he’s reaching for his gun.

He may be. To show them a toy?

But certainly he KNOWS that he has a toy. Not a gun. Not a weapon.

The game now is one of legal obfuscations.

The police at the time of the shoot presumably don’t know they are being taped. They don’t help Tamir at all. Who is to know?

But a tape is going. And we have it.

Silent for a year public pressure is building so someone has advised the two officers that they have to say something that can “explain” the inexpiable.

Grand juries are creatures of the “justice” system. They usually are led by a prominent, or I’d say “safe” citizen. A good, responsible citizen. Won’t make trouble. And a prosecutor.

County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty has already shown his hand by sending the grand jury three “experts” who testify essentially that this is a “good shoot.” Meaning Tamir Rice’s killing is okay.

Loehmann writes, “I saw the weapon in his hands coming out of his waistband and the threat to my partner and myself was real and active.”

Their statements sound ghost written. As federal prosecutors claim a court filing for Michael Gabor was written by fellow scandal convict Anthony Calabreese III, as noted in a Cleveland.com article.

McGinty may be making peace with the cops after indicting Michael Brelo, the officer who went shoot-happy in the 137 bullet car chase that ended with two black unarmed victims killed in a bewildering car chase through city streets. Brelo was acquitted. But the police resent his even being charged.

A trial isn’t fair to police if the shoot is by one of them.

Roldo Bartimole…

(Thanks to Roldo, Scene Magazine takes notice of Have Coffee Will Write—once named Best Local Weblog (that really dates me) by that publication—for the first time in nearly a decade, but relegates HCWW to a local blog status. :) JH)

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders beats the most popular Republican White House hopefuls by margins as big or bigger than Hillary Clinton, according to a new Quinnipiac University Poll released on Wednesday.

“The survey demonstrated Sanders’ remarkable strength as a general election candidate based on his enormous popularity among young voters, his standing as the most trusted candidate and his strength with independents,” said Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ campaign manager. “This is the latest evidence that Bernie is the most electable candidate the Democrats could nominate.”

In the head-to-head pairings, Sanders “does just as well, or even better, against top Republicans” than Clinton, according to Douglas Schwartz, the Quinnipiac poll director. Sanders led Donald Trump 49 percent to 41 percent. He held a 49 to 39 percent lead over Sen. Ted Cruz, a 47 to 41 percent advantage over Dr. Ben Carson and a 44 to 43 percent edge over Sen. Marco Rubio.

When voters are asked whether they have a favorable or unfavorable view of candidates, Sanders is viewed more favorably than Clinton, Trump, Carson Rubio or Cruz, according to the independent pollster.

The Guardian emails:

Dear Jeff,

With the crucial UN climate summit in Paris beginning on Monday, I wanted to give you a heads up about what you can expect from Guardian reporters and editors over the next two weeks.

We will have a team of reporters inside the Paris talks cutting through the spin and trying to get to the bottom of what is really going on – and what it all means (we think it’s likely the talks will result in a deal, here’s why). You will receive regular updates from us on the progress of the talks with links to the most important pieces we are publishing. And by being on this email list you will get a unique insight into the talks, with a more personal take from John Vidal and Adam Vaughan.

On Sunday we will be live-blogging the global climate protest starting in Sydney, followed by London and then the US. We will also be live-blogging the first day of the talks when we expect speeches from the likes of Barack Obama, Xi Jinping, Angela Merkel and David Cameron.

Best wishes,

James Randerson,
Assistant national news editor

Previously in The Guardian emails…

Keep Carbon In The Ground…

Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi’s 10-years and 1,000 lashes sentence for apostasy has been suspended and a royal pardon by King Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud is imminent according to Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Previously…

Occasionally I come across a comment on the Internet that is cogent, intelligent and spot on. This comment from lorn on the current hysteria surrounding allowing refugees from the Middle East into the United States is one of those.

As is so typical the right has a bit of a point, but they 1) vastly exaggerate the problem and 2) focus on one modality while ignoring several others. Entering the US with the intent of staging an attack by applying as a refugee seems like possibly the worse possible way of getting in. Which isn’t to say one or two might not try but If I had to get in I would try by applying as a tourist through the visa waver program. It seems much less time consuming and involved. Alternatively, landing in Canada and walking across the border is also an option.

Of course that overlooks the obvious. Some of the Paris attackers were French or Belgian citizens. Recruiting American citizens seems like an efficient method of getting operatives onto US soil. Once on US soil gaining guns would be child’s play. No need to go to Belgium to get firearms into France. Every state in the Union has gun shops and/or gun shows where firearms are sold to pretty much anyone. Lots of people take it as their patriotic duty to make sure everyone is as heavily armed as their wallets will allow.

So sure. Raise a stink about the least likely route to get terrorists into the US while strutting and posturing about how you are patriotic Americans ‘Just being careful’. Propose changes that will make no effective difference. The GOP really wants an attack like Paris to go down on Obama’s watch. They have been looking for a club to beat him with for seven years. They want ISIS to enjoy a small victory so they can discredit the Democrats. It would give their collection of lame incompetents and lunatics a shot at winning. The GOP is all about winning, and if some Americans have to get maimed or die… it is a small price to pay to get those who are born to rule into office. For the good of America, of course.

What the feck are people so afraid of that they’re pissing their pants so much?

At the federal level, where politicians actually get to vote on refugees, Bernie Sanders had this to say:

Jeff,

My father Eli immigrated to America from Poland in 1921 after World War I at the age of 17. He was not a refugee fleeing war, although much of his family later became victims of the Holocaust. He came to America looking to make a better life. He never made a lot of money, but it didn’t matter because he was able to start a family and send his two sons to college. That meant the world to him and he loved this country.

While my father came here as an immigrant, many have also come as refugees fleeing war, oppression and violence. That’s why I opposed the call of some to turn away unaccompanied children who showed up on our borders from Latin America. We must not allow the horrific violence we have seen in France and elsewhere to turn us from our historic role as a haven for the oppressed.

In terms of the Syrian refugee situation we are now facing, now is not the time for us to succumb to racism and bigotry. In this moment, it is particularly important that we not allow ourselves to be divided by the anti-immigrant hysteria that Republican presidential candidates are ginning up.

When hundreds of thousands of people have lost everything and have nothing left but the shirts on their backs, we should not turn our backs on these refugees escaping violence in the Middle East. Of course we have to investigate the backgrounds of people coming into the country—and we will—but to suggest that we would even turn away orphans is incredible.

Sign my petition to say you support continuing the refugee program that promises to resettle 10,000 Syrians, mostly women and children, who are escaping violence in their home country.

The rhetoric and fear mongering about these refugees from some Republicans running for President is abhorrent and has no place in our political discourse.

Donald Trump has not just called for keeping out Syrian refugees, he also said he thinks it’s a good idea to create a national database of all Muslims in America. Meanwhile, Ben Carson said some Syrian refugees are like “rabid dogs” and referred to the rest of Syrian refugees as just “dogs.” This disgusting rhetoric cannot be tolerated.

Other Republicans have suggested rounding up existing refugees and deporting them. And yesterday afternoon, the House of Representatives voted on a plan that would make it near impossible for the United States to continue our Syrian refugee program.

This is not what America stands for.

Syrians and other refugees from the Middle East are escaping unspeakable horrors. To get to our country, refugees already go through a vigorous vetting program by the FBI, National Counterterrorism Center, Homeland Security and the State Department. The process takes almost two years and refugees from Syria face additional scrutiny.

We should continue our program to provide Syrians fleeing violence with the opportunity for a new life. I hope you’ll join me to stand together to admit Syrian refugees.

Thank you for standing with me and making your voice heard on this important issue.

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders

Oliver Burkeman pondering in Why do we undervalue what we’re good at? for The Guardian, asks:

If you want to improve, should you focus on developing what you’re good at, or on patching things up where you’re bad? In a series of bestselling books, the consultant Marcus Buckingham has made a persuasive case for a strengths-based approach: it’s both more effective and more enjoyable, he argues, than struggling to plug your weak spots.

But Rothbard’s Law raises two complicating thoughts. One is that you might not perceive your strengths at all, imagining them instead to be run-of-the-mill capabilities possessed by everyone. The other is that focusing on them might feel boring, even meaningless, compared with the thrill of the unknown.

The trick—easier to talk about than to do, as ever—is to pick challenges adjacent to your existing skills, not diametrically opposed to them. The more profound difficulty is to learn to see your unique skills for what they are – and, when it comes to salary negotiations and suchlike, to resist undervaluing them. All this might sound like the cheesiest sort of self-esteem-boosting advice: “Everyone’s good at something!” I’m sure that mushy conclusion would have appalled Rothbard (and it’s empirically untrue, anyway, because there’s Ashton Kutcher.) The more down-to-earth, more genuinely cheering implication of his law is that you may well be more talented than you think.

I could give a snap assessment of my strengths and weaknesses, but I fear neither would be well informed. Perhaps I need to ask the people who know me.

Two stories showed up in my inbox this morning highlighting once again how those in power use the latest boogieman to scare the bejesus out of the sheep that pass for masses of citizens of the United States (and the rest of the free world).

First, an email from Payal Parekh at 350.org:

Friends,

Yesterday, we got some disappointing news. Citing security concerns, the French government has prohibited many of the Paris mobilizations and events connected to the upcoming climate summit from going forward—including the massive march being planned for November 29th.

This is a heavy blow, especially for the many organizers who have been working around the clock for months to bring hundreds of thousands of people out into the streets of Paris. It’s a heavy blow, too, because it makes our job—of making sure this summit actually yields real, ambitious results—that much harder.

While activists in Paris are revising their plans, it’s up to the rest of us to kick it up a notch.

The Global Climate March—which already consists of thousands of events, small and large, all around the world—will continue. From London to Los Angeles, Quito to Quezon City, people are still taking to the streets.

Click here to find an action near you, or to start one of your own on November 28th-29th. There couldn’t be a more important time to step up to the plate.

Organizers in Paris are still reeling from Friday’s terrible attacks, and now they’re scrambling to figure out what they can still do to have an impact in the face of a potentially repressive security situation.

We need to speak up for activists in Paris, who are struggling to be heard. Those of us who can mobilize, must. The Paris Climate Summit is still a crucial opportunity for world governments to send a signal that the world is moving away from fossil fuels. In fact, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the world needs this sort of global cooperation urgently.

Even as climate change contributes to conflict around the world, this summit is an opportunity for us to come together and finally grapple with the scale of the problem we’re facing. Unfortunately, that’s not the sort of ambition that governments and politicians muster on their own. That’s the sort of thing only mass social movements have the power to make happen.

You can help make it happen. Now is the time to find an action near you, or get one going with your friends and family.

Going to actions and protests—even leading actions and protests!—isn’t just the domain of seasoned organizers. Most of the events already on the map as part of the Global Climate March are hosted by regular people—people with jobs, families, and regular lives. The only thing that makes them particularly different is how much they’re willing to take action for what they love.

Take action with us on November 28th-29th. Extraordinary times call for doing extraordinary things.

Yesterday’s news was a setback, but we’re not packing up and going home. Not by a long shot. This just means that we need to get louder everywhere.

I hope you’ll help us do that.

Onward,

Payal

The second story involves a tweet from CNN Global affairs correspondent Elise Labott who wrote:

House passes bill that could limit Syrian refugees. Statue of Liberty bows head in anguish @CNNPolitics https://t.co/5RvZwVftgD

Eight hours later Labott tweeted:

Everyone, It was wrong of me to editorialize. My tweet was inappropriate and disrespectful. I sincerely apologize.

Labott had the story right the first time. That she had to save her job because the craven suits needed to appease their fear-mongering masters only underlines how ISIS (and their ilk) continue to win the fight against the Free World ™.

Transcript of Bernie Sanders on Democratic Socialism and Foreign Policy.

Matt Taibbi is Hunter S. Thompson without the drugs and alcohol. No. Really.

Writing in The Case For Bernie Sanders Taibbi concludes:

I first met Bernie Sanders ten years ago, and I don’t believe there’s anything else he really thinks about. There’s no other endgame for him. He’s not looking for a book deal or a membership in a Martha’s Vineyard golf club or a cameo in a Guy Ritchie movie. This election isn’t a game to him; it’s not the awesomely repulsive dark joke it is to me and many others.

And the only reason this attention-averse, sometimes socially uncomfortable person is subjecting himself to this asinine process is because he genuinely believes the system is not beyond repair.

Not all of us can say that. But that doesn’t make us right, and him “unrealistic.” More than any other politician in recent memory, Bernie Sanders is focused on reality. It’s the rest of us who are lost.

This is why I’ve sent more money to Bernie ($250 and counting) than any other candidate ever.

Reality, what a concept.

Bernie came to Cleveland last night, and, as Henry Gomez ledes for The Plain Dealer: So this is what a Bernie Sanders rally is like.

Writing in Feel the Bern? Bernie Sanders storms into Cleveland with a pitch for ‘revolution’ Gomez continues:

An ear-splittingly-loud crowd that eggs on the Democratic presidential hopeful’s barbed attacks on capitalism. Boos when he brings up the rich, cheers when he flays them.

Pandemonium when he stands up for women’s rights, gay rights and legal marijuana.

And the signs. They were worthy of a ballgame, with social media hash tags like #AloeForHillary. Because, of course, it’s time to #FeelTheBern.

A soothing evening of politics, this was not.

“We are the vast majority of the people in this country, and when we come together,” Sanders said Monday night during a rally at Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center, “we can defeat the people with all of the money and all of the power.”

Make all the jokes and generalizations you want about Cleveland being a deep-blue stronghold for lefties. This was the first time in years that such an unapologetically piqued liberal held such a rapt audience here. And he did it for nearly an hour and a half.

Bernie, as he has done many times before, pulled in the crowd.

His cantankerous demeanor and style—a mix of hoarse growls and flailing arms—has inspired dead-on satire from comedian Larry David and “Saturday Night Live.” His ability to draw a crowd places him in an elevated league of Democratic rock stars that in recent years has included Clinton, her husband and President Barack Obama.

But filling the 13,500-seat Wolstein Center, the home court for CSU’s basketball team and a popular concert venue, is by no means a snap for political celebrities. When Obama campaigned there for then-Gov. Ted Strickland the Sunday before Election Day 2010, Republicans and the media noted all of the empty seats—more than 5,000 of them.

For those who read into such things: Sanders was about on par with Obama and Strickland.

By comparison, Clinton’s August event at Cleveland’s Case Western Reserve University drew far fewer. Campus officials estimated a turnout of more than 2,000. The crowd looked much smaller, though, barely filling half of the soccer field where she spoke.

I predict a one-two punch in Iowa and New Hampshire and people (but not Bernie) will start talking about the possibility of a Vice President Clinton.

Previously…

I’ve been watching the counter roll closer and closer to 1,000 over the past few days. Yes, I realize that numbers 999 and 1001 are no less important, but we have a fascination for round numbers and artificial milestones.

Today, The Guardian added the 1,000th death at the hands of police in the United States.

Jon Swaine and Oliver Laughland report in Number of people killed by US police in 2015 at 1,000 after Oakland shooting write:

The number of people killed by law enforcement in the US this year has reached 1,000 after officers in Oakland, California, shot dead a man who allegedly pointed a replica gun at them.

Authorities said several officers opened fire on the man on Sunday evening when he walked toward them as they towed away cars that had been used to perform so-called “sideshow” stunts in east Oakland. Officers discovered later that the gun was a replica, police said.

How did the 1,0000 die?

Sunday’s incident was the 883rd fatal shooting by a law enforcement officer so far in 2015, according to the Guardian’s records. Another 47 people died after being shocked with an officer’s Taser, 33 died after being struck by a law enforcement officer’s vehicle, and 36 were killed in custody. Another received a deadly blow to the head during a fight with an officer.

The shooting was also the 183rd death recorded in California, by far the greatest total of any state. Nine states, however, have recorded more deaths per capita, with Oklahoma having the highest rate.

Ask yourself, how many Americans have died at the hands of terrorists this year?