Dan Roberts, reporting in Bernie Sanders’ new slogan looks beyond nomination: ‘The struggle continues’ for The Guardian, writes:

From the dying embers of his presidential campaign, Bernie Sanders has forged a new slogan that gives a clue to what the defiant leftwinger will do next after losing the Democratic nomination to Hillary Clinton.

“The struggle continues” might not have the wit of “feel the Bern” or the ambition of promising “political revolution”, but it hints at the dogged approach he is likely to take when he meets Barack Obama and other party leaders in Washington to discuss reconciliation on Thursday.

To the dismay of some Clinton supporters hoping for a swift capitulation from their Democratic opponent, Sanders has already scheduled another large rally immediately after his White House appointment and intends to contest the final primary election in DC next Tuesday.

*The words of the immortal Senator John Blutarsky, of course.

Previously…

Ralph Nader thinks so.

Donald Trump brags about “branding” his political opponents. He repeatedly has called Marco Rubio “Little Marco,” Ted Cruz “Lyin’ Ted,” and Hillary Clinton, “Crooked Hillary.” Repetition makes these epithets stick—a lesson Trump has drawn from the advertising world and his own fragile ego.

Astonishingly, his opponents have not successfully branded him—choosing instead to first ignore and then argue with Trump, who is a chronic overtalker, shouter and prevaricator. The mass media, delighted with its ratings, has until recently rarely chosen to challenge his false assertions, preferring instead to let him perpetuate his mendacities.

There are exceptions—two of the leading ones being Glenn Kessler, the Washington Post Fact Checker who has handed Trump a record 28 Four-Pinocchio awards and David Cay Johnston, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter who has written, “Twenty One Questions for Donald Trump.”

Based on these and other solid published sources, the new moniker or nickname for Trump should be “CHEATING DONALD.”

Cheating Donald rings true with many bells. He has cheated on his workers, including undocumented laborers. Through his numerous tactical company bankruptcies, he has cheated on his creditors and employees who were thrown out of Continue Reading »

Whenever government seeks to encourage economic endeavors for the good of the nation unintended consequences arise, often in the form of businesses created solely to suck at that particular teat. This is the heart of corporate welfare that led in recent years to the rise of for-profit universities, often existing only online, that have trapped many many Americans in debt traps paying off college loans.

The problem, however, is not new.

Ralph Nader, writing in The Funny Business of Farm Credit explains:

In May of 1998 we held a conference dedicated to two Government-sponsored Enterprises—Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In my statement to that assembly, I noted that both corporations had been enjoying good times, but cautioned that one of the unintended consequences of fat profits over a long period is the tendency of both government and private corporations to start believing in the fantasy of ever-rising profits. GSEs often escape the accountability that Congress or regulatory agencies should impose.

Recent hearings in the U.S. House and Senate have provided some much needed oversight on another GSE?the Farm Credit System.

The Farm Credit System was the first GSE to be established by the United States in 1916. Unlike Fannie and Freddie, the Farm Credit System can make direct loans to farmers, ranchers and others involved in agriculture. However, Continue Reading »

Much, much more on Breaking Through Power…

Will Bates, for 350.org, emails:

Friends,

For 12 days, thousands of people on six continents stepped up their commitment to keep fossil fuels in the ground with courageous actions that have challenged business as usual across the globe.

Break Free stopped everything entering or exiting the world’s largest coal port in Australia, stood up to South Africa’s most powerful family and left coal at their front door, and occupied train tracks overnight on both coasts of the United States to stop oil-filled “bomb trains” from rolling. We disrupted a fossil fuel auction, blockaded fracking sites, surrounded refineries with kayak flotillas and sit-ins, and called for an end to offshore drilling.

3,500 people shut down one of Europe’s biggest carbon polluters in Germany, 10,000 marched against a coal plant in the Philippines, 3,000 more sent an ear-splitting message to Indonesia’s President with a whistle demonstration against coal in Jakarta—and so much more.

A joint wave of action of this diversity and intensity had never been attempted before. Together, we pulled it off.

As the planet becomes dangerously hot, our greatest collective hope is that this movement continues to grow in size, strength and boldness. The past few days show what we can accomplish together.

In every country that took action this week—Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Germany, Indonesia, New Zealand, Nigeria, the Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and beyond—organizing against fossil fuels and for renewable energy will continue stronger than ever.

Because people everywhere see the writing on the wall: as the planet heats up, renewable energy becomes more affordable, and the industry enters a financial crisis, the time has come to stand up to the power and pollution of the fossil fuel industry. The time has come to really break free.

The climate crisis is escalating, but so are we.

Even as Break Free actions were gearing up, thousands of young people here in the United States were also taking bold action — to divest their universities from the fossil fuel industry and reinvest in just solutions. More than 30 direct actions have taken place on college campuses over the past several weeks, and more are on their way (check it out here).

This movement will continue to grow in all of its forms: divesting from fossil fuels, blocking fossil fuel extraction and transportation, passing fracking bans, stopping new coal plants, ending fossil fuel subsidies, and securing commitments build a 100% renewable economy.

Thanks to you, there has never been a better time in history to break free from fossil fuels. Let’s seize this moment, with all our strength.

Take a moment today to be inspired.

With gratitude and awe,

Will & the 350.org Break Free team

Previously in The Guardian emails…

Eulogium (p. 56) Uncle Venner’s eulogium, if it appears rather too high-strained for the person and occasion, had, nevertheless, a sense in which it was both subtile and true. Modern eulogy, eulogium, Medieval Latin, from Greek eulogia praise; a commendatory oration, high praise, or writing especially in honor of one deceased . (15th century)igh

From Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The House Of Seven Gables.

Previously…

The Utopian dreaming I do now had to do with encouraging cheerfulness and bravery by the formation of good gangs.

—to Mark Vonnegut on 29 August 1972, p. 183 Kurt Vonnegut: Letters.

The best good gang that I can think of in this moment are those people Feeling The Bern.

I’m unclear in my own head how that gang survives the treachery of the Democratic National Committee and the anointing of Hillary Clinton to be sacrificed on the altar of Donald Trump. I felt much the same way about the Occupy Wall Street movement, but many of those people formed the base for Bernie’s run and my hope is that Bernie’s supporters will, in turn, become the base for yet another, larger movement.

Chairman Mao understood the concept well.

If we have some peace within ourselves, in our way of thinking, speaking and acting, we’ll be able to influence people and inspire them to go in the same direction. p. 111

From Good Citizens: Creating Enlightened Society by Thich Nhat Hanh

There are so many ways to come at this statement: physician, heal thyself; be the change you wish to see; do as I do; &c. The core is that change is a matter of leading, not following. If you can’t demonstrate that the change is not only possible, but manifest in your own life, your hypocrisy will find you out.

Previously…

Found in my electronic chapbook.

At my best, when writing my first, unpublished novel, Cold Silence, I could write productively for four hours, from 8 a.m. to noon. I’m struggling these days get in three hours. Not because of any kind of block, but because of distractions: principally dogs demanding to play or just go pee. I’m working to get those under control.

All those I think who have lived as literary men—working daily as literary labourers—will agree with me that three hours a day will produce as much as a man ought to write. But then, he should have so trained himself that she shall be able to work continuously during those three hours,—so have tutored his mind that it shall not be necessary for him to sit nibbling his pen, and gazing at the wall before him, till he shall have found the words with which he wants to express his ideas. It had at this time become my custom,—and is still my custom, though of late I have become a little lenient of myself,—to write with my watch before me, and to require of myself 250 words every quarter of hour. I have found that the 250 words have been forthcoming as regularly as my watch went. But my three hours were not devoted entirely to writing. I always began my task by reading the work of the day before, an operation which would take me half an hour, and which consisted chiefly in weighting with my ear the sound of the words and phrases…. This division of time allowed me to produce over ten pages of of an ordinary novel volume a day, and if kept up through ten months, would have given as its results three novels of three volumes each in the year;—the precise amount which so greatly acerbated the publisher of Paternoster Row, and which must at any rate be felt to be quite as much the novel readers of the world can want from the hands of one man. —Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) page 24-5

From Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Curry.

Trollope was, of course, writing with pen and ink. Working at a computer I find that I write at four times his rate (and twice that of Ernest Hemingway). I’m not sure if that is good or not. Comments please?

Found in my electronic chapbook.

I’ve marked the next Groundhog Day (2 February 2017) on my calendar. Have you?

Bernie emails:

When we started this campaign, my greatest fear was that if we did not do well that it would be a setback not just for me, but for the ideas driving our campaign.

We had no campaign organization, no money, and very little name recognition. The corporate media called us “fringe,” we were taking on the entire Democratic establishment, and we were down 60 points or more in the national polls.

Then a supporter from Chicago, Illinois made the first contribution to our campaign—for $3. A few minutes later, $50 from a supporter in California, then $10 from someone in Georgia. A little more than 12 months later, I am humbled to share that our campaign has received more than 7.6 million contributions through April, more than any presidential candidate at this point in a campaign ever. And we’re just getting started.

Your support has powered us to 21 victories and a much larger lead against Donald Trump than Secretary Clinton’s campaign. So we’ve created a website to show everyone the depth and diversity of our political revolution. It’s very important that you visit and share it with everyone you know today.

Bernie

There are laws in place to requiring broadcasters to answer that question, but commission tasked with enforcing that law has other priorities. Ralph Nader is not happy.

He writes:

The plain-spoken, public-spirited former Federal Communications Commissioner, Michael Copps, is indignant—and for good reason: The FCC is not enforcing the law requiring the “dark money” super PACs and other campaign cash conduits to reveal, on-the-air, the names of the real donors behind all political advertisements, which are now flooding the profitable radio and television airwaves.

It is bad enough that political ads far overwhelm political news stories. One study of the 2014 election campaign found Philadelphia stations gave 45 times more air time to political ads than they devoted to their news stories which were designed to inform viewers about the candidates. Political ads have become a huge cash cow for the television and radio stations that use OUR public airwaves free of charge. We citizens, who are the owners of the public airwaves, receive no rent payment from these tenants. (Thanks to a corrupted Congress!)

As Mr. Copps has written: Viewers watching these ads are provided a nice-sounding name, such as “Paid for by Citizens for Amber Waves of Grain,” and “nothing else, no hint of who put up the money; no clue as to the real agenda behind the message.” They could be chemical companies polluting our water, big arms manufacturers wanting more over-priced government contracts, or banks who are opposed to proper regulation of their consumer-gouging tactics and their risky speculation.

Years ago the FCC declared that the Audiences “are entitled to know by whom they are being persuaded.” So why isn’t the FCC enforcing the clear-cut, Continue Reading »

Hypocrisy abounds here among sports team owners. It’s almost as bountiful as their greed. That’s saying something.

Dee and Jimmy Haslam play the two-faced game better than their team plays football. Not hard, I guess.

We got a good example of it recently when the Plain Dealer and our TV news (what a joke—news?) gave us some “information” or what travels as “news.”

The Cleveland Browns fed them a story of their generosity to Cleveland schools. The media ate it up as if it were prime beef.

Here’s what the Plain Dealer dished out:

CLEVELAND, Ohio—The Cleveland Browns today will announce a ‘major project that will benefit students and communities throughout Cleveland.’

Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and Cleveland Metropolitan School District CEO Eric Gordon will be joined by 100 Continue Reading »