Forty some years ago I recorded this masterpiece on a tape cassette. Driving home from college in my old VW bug, heading up 101 North of the city, I pressed "play" on the cassette player on the seat next to me. It was hot, windows were down, hard to hear.
Fifteen minutes later I found myself again, in the far right lane, driving at 40 mph, lost in the music, straining to hear each note.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSm7iqixbrg
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
"But the truth is, it wasn’t the state, or the cold, or the media. The real problem underneath it all was a deep ambivalence about power. In fact, all of the things that made Occupy Wall Street brilliant had this paradox built into them, this politic of powerlessness woven deep inside, like a bad gene or a self-destruct mechanism."
"But the truth is, it wasn’t the state, or the cold, or the media. The real problem underneath it all was a deep ambivalence about power. In fact, all of the things that made Occupy Wall Street brilliant had this paradox built into them, this politic of powerlessness woven deep inside, like a bad gene or a self-destruct mechanism."
Originally shared by Jordan Peacock
Yotam Marom:
The meetings are closed, and we all feel kind of bad about it, although this is another thing we don’t talk about often. There isn’t much coherence to how we ended up here in the first place — one person invited a few over and the next invited a couple and so on, until the room was full. It was as arbitrary a time to stop inviting people as any, but this is how things often happen in movement moments. We justify the boundary by reminding ourselves that we are certainly not the only collection of people meeting like this — there are many affinity groups and other kinds of formations — and that we are here to plan and strategize, not to make decisions.
But we also know that there are a lot of movers and shakers in the room, and that this affords us a disproportionate ability to move things through the rest of Occupy. We know the age-old pitfalls of people making plans in closed off rooms, and it’s not lost on us that — while this space is also led by some of the most powerful women and folks of color in the movement — most of us are white, middle class, and male. If someone had asked any one of us directly, we’d likely have agreed that, collectively, we have quite a bit of power and aren’t being held accountable to it.
But for the most part, we keep that nagging feeling under wraps, so we can continue the work. There is a confidence we seem to share that we are filling a void, meeting a real need, putting everything we have on the line to keep momentum going. We seem to agree, even if quietly, that movements don’t exist without leadership, that the general assembly has been more performance art than decision-making forum since the first couple of weeks, that leaderlessness is a myth, that we need a place to have sensitive discussions hopefully out of reach of the surveillance state. And in truth we know our jobs aren’t glamorous by any stretch of the imagination; after all, a good deal of the efforts of the folks in the room are aimed at getting occupiers port-o-potties and stopping the incessant drumming.
[...]
Some of the folks in the group got frustrated, and pulled away. They accused the rest of us of being liberals (this was a curse-word), said we were co-opting the movement for the unions, claimed that even meeting like this was a violation of the principles of the movement. Those claims were false, but they were hard to argue with, because most of us were already feeling guilty for being in closed off rooms. So we shrunk. Sort of like when an over-zealous white “ally” trips over other white folks to call out an example of racism; the first to call it out sits back smugly, having taken the moral high ground and pointed a finger at the others, and then the rest clench their jaws and stare at the floor guiltily, hoping the storm passes over them.
We tried to stop the split. We slowed down. We spent time trying to figure out what the right thing to do was. We tried to be honest about how much of this had to do with differences in politics and how much of it was really just ego on all sides. Some of us tried to reach across the aisle, to mend broken relationships. But in the meantime, the folks who had taken the moral high ground had begun building a separate group. That split happened in October in that living room on the Lower East Side, perhaps in other circles in the movement around the same time; by November it was playing out in the movement more broadly, until in December there were distinctly different tendencies offering different directions to the movement as a whole. It would be overly simplistic to trace the overall conflict inside the belly of Occupy Wall Street to the dissolution of this one group or even to in-fighting more broadly, but at the same time, it was a significant factor. All movements develop mechanisms for leadership and coordination, whether formal or informal, and they suffer real setbacks when those systems collapse.
[...]
It wasn’t the state, or the cold, or the media. The real problem underneath it all was a deep ambivalence about power. In fact, all of the things that made Occupy Wall Street brilliant had this paradox built into them, this politic of powerlessness woven deep inside, like a bad gene or a self-destruct mechanism.
For example, the mantra of leaderlessness came from a genuine desire to avoid classic pitfalls into hierarchy, but it was, at the same time, a farce, and divorced from any sense of collective structure or care for group culture. It foreclosed on the possibility of holding emerging leaders accountable, created a situation in which real leaders (whether worthy or not) went to the shadows instead of the square, and made it impossible to really develop one another (how, really, could we train new leaders if there weren’t supposed to be any in the first place?). Similarly, the refusal to articulate demands was brilliant in opening radical possibilities and sparking the popular imagination, but it also meant we didn’t have a shared goal, meant the word winning wasn’t even part of the movement’s lexicon. In many ways, it was an expression of a fear of actually saying something and taking responsibility for it, and it encouraged the often-repeated delusion that we didn’t even want anything our enemy had to give, that Wall Street and the State didn’t have any power over us.
[...]
In those moments, when we refuse to engage in these fights because they feel childish and below the belt, we forget that the majority of people are standing in the middle, wondering what the hell is going on and looking for people they can trust. When those of us who are thinking about power and trying to grow the base don’t step up to that challenge, the folks in the middle assume that the people bringing in toxicity are the leadership, and they don’t want to have anything to do with it. They find no other voices providing leadership they can feel a part of. So they go home.
[...]
Our behaviors — even the self-sabotaging ones — are our bodies’ responses to threat. Our instincts are clumsy at times, and they often cut us off from our better options, but credit where credit is due: these instincts, at some points, probably saved our lives. Instead of hating those traits so much, we might be better off tipping our hat to them, thanking them for the safety they have provided us, and letting them know that we don’t need them anymore — that we want to practice something new instead.
[...]
The politics of powerlessness is a defense mechanism, meant to protect us from our worst fears. And as I’ve been learning, it never works to hate one’s defenses, to bang our heads against them, to bend them into submission. No, the way we change is by really getting curious about their source, and trying to address their root causes. Of course we’re afraid. Fear is a totally grounded response to what is happening around us. We need to sit with that. And we need to find new practices for dealing with our fears, because in the end, those hard truths are precisely the reason we need to do awaywith the politic of powerlessness.
http://www.alternet.org/occupy-wall-street/what-really-caused-implosion-occupy-movement-insiders-view
http://www.alternet.org/occupy-wall-street/what-really-caused-implosion-occupy-movement-insiders-view
Originally shared by Jordan Peacock
Yotam Marom:
The meetings are closed, and we all feel kind of bad about it, although this is another thing we don’t talk about often. There isn’t much coherence to how we ended up here in the first place — one person invited a few over and the next invited a couple and so on, until the room was full. It was as arbitrary a time to stop inviting people as any, but this is how things often happen in movement moments. We justify the boundary by reminding ourselves that we are certainly not the only collection of people meeting like this — there are many affinity groups and other kinds of formations — and that we are here to plan and strategize, not to make decisions.
But we also know that there are a lot of movers and shakers in the room, and that this affords us a disproportionate ability to move things through the rest of Occupy. We know the age-old pitfalls of people making plans in closed off rooms, and it’s not lost on us that — while this space is also led by some of the most powerful women and folks of color in the movement — most of us are white, middle class, and male. If someone had asked any one of us directly, we’d likely have agreed that, collectively, we have quite a bit of power and aren’t being held accountable to it.
But for the most part, we keep that nagging feeling under wraps, so we can continue the work. There is a confidence we seem to share that we are filling a void, meeting a real need, putting everything we have on the line to keep momentum going. We seem to agree, even if quietly, that movements don’t exist without leadership, that the general assembly has been more performance art than decision-making forum since the first couple of weeks, that leaderlessness is a myth, that we need a place to have sensitive discussions hopefully out of reach of the surveillance state. And in truth we know our jobs aren’t glamorous by any stretch of the imagination; after all, a good deal of the efforts of the folks in the room are aimed at getting occupiers port-o-potties and stopping the incessant drumming.
[...]
Some of the folks in the group got frustrated, and pulled away. They accused the rest of us of being liberals (this was a curse-word), said we were co-opting the movement for the unions, claimed that even meeting like this was a violation of the principles of the movement. Those claims were false, but they were hard to argue with, because most of us were already feeling guilty for being in closed off rooms. So we shrunk. Sort of like when an over-zealous white “ally” trips over other white folks to call out an example of racism; the first to call it out sits back smugly, having taken the moral high ground and pointed a finger at the others, and then the rest clench their jaws and stare at the floor guiltily, hoping the storm passes over them.
We tried to stop the split. We slowed down. We spent time trying to figure out what the right thing to do was. We tried to be honest about how much of this had to do with differences in politics and how much of it was really just ego on all sides. Some of us tried to reach across the aisle, to mend broken relationships. But in the meantime, the folks who had taken the moral high ground had begun building a separate group. That split happened in October in that living room on the Lower East Side, perhaps in other circles in the movement around the same time; by November it was playing out in the movement more broadly, until in December there were distinctly different tendencies offering different directions to the movement as a whole. It would be overly simplistic to trace the overall conflict inside the belly of Occupy Wall Street to the dissolution of this one group or even to in-fighting more broadly, but at the same time, it was a significant factor. All movements develop mechanisms for leadership and coordination, whether formal or informal, and they suffer real setbacks when those systems collapse.
[...]
It wasn’t the state, or the cold, or the media. The real problem underneath it all was a deep ambivalence about power. In fact, all of the things that made Occupy Wall Street brilliant had this paradox built into them, this politic of powerlessness woven deep inside, like a bad gene or a self-destruct mechanism.
For example, the mantra of leaderlessness came from a genuine desire to avoid classic pitfalls into hierarchy, but it was, at the same time, a farce, and divorced from any sense of collective structure or care for group culture. It foreclosed on the possibility of holding emerging leaders accountable, created a situation in which real leaders (whether worthy or not) went to the shadows instead of the square, and made it impossible to really develop one another (how, really, could we train new leaders if there weren’t supposed to be any in the first place?). Similarly, the refusal to articulate demands was brilliant in opening radical possibilities and sparking the popular imagination, but it also meant we didn’t have a shared goal, meant the word winning wasn’t even part of the movement’s lexicon. In many ways, it was an expression of a fear of actually saying something and taking responsibility for it, and it encouraged the often-repeated delusion that we didn’t even want anything our enemy had to give, that Wall Street and the State didn’t have any power over us.
[...]
In those moments, when we refuse to engage in these fights because they feel childish and below the belt, we forget that the majority of people are standing in the middle, wondering what the hell is going on and looking for people they can trust. When those of us who are thinking about power and trying to grow the base don’t step up to that challenge, the folks in the middle assume that the people bringing in toxicity are the leadership, and they don’t want to have anything to do with it. They find no other voices providing leadership they can feel a part of. So they go home.
[...]
Our behaviors — even the self-sabotaging ones — are our bodies’ responses to threat. Our instincts are clumsy at times, and they often cut us off from our better options, but credit where credit is due: these instincts, at some points, probably saved our lives. Instead of hating those traits so much, we might be better off tipping our hat to them, thanking them for the safety they have provided us, and letting them know that we don’t need them anymore — that we want to practice something new instead.
[...]
The politics of powerlessness is a defense mechanism, meant to protect us from our worst fears. And as I’ve been learning, it never works to hate one’s defenses, to bang our heads against them, to bend them into submission. No, the way we change is by really getting curious about their source, and trying to address their root causes. Of course we’re afraid. Fear is a totally grounded response to what is happening around us. We need to sit with that. And we need to find new practices for dealing with our fears, because in the end, those hard truths are precisely the reason we need to do awaywith the politic of powerlessness.
http://www.alternet.org/occupy-wall-street/what-really-caused-implosion-occupy-movement-insiders-view
http://www.alternet.org/occupy-wall-street/what-really-caused-implosion-occupy-movement-insiders-view
Originally shared by John Poteet
Originally shared by John Poteet
It took me six tries to get this posted. Major historical event here.
I shouldn't have to explain why.
OK, I ran into a cartography challenged individual who I respect greatly so here goes the rundown.
The little green circle is the North Pole, or as close as I can get on this map site.
It's December 30th, 2015.
The temperature is above freezing. (0.1 C)
A few years ago I thought it was significant that it was raining instead of snowing at 86ยบ North in June and it was. This is off the charts.
Source: http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/overlay=temp/orthographic=-201.69,90.55,367/loc=74.608,89.768
An arrow to the heart.
An arrow to the heart.
Originally shared by Jennifer Ouellette
The Winners from the 2015 National Geographic Photo Contest (13 Photos) http://twistedsifter.com/2015/12/national-geographic-photo-contest-2015-winners/ …
http://twistedsifter.com/2015/12/national-geographic-photo-contest-2015-winners
Originally shared by Jennifer Ouellette
The Winners from the 2015 National Geographic Photo Contest (13 Photos) http://twistedsifter.com/2015/12/national-geographic-photo-contest-2015-winners/ …
http://twistedsifter.com/2015/12/national-geographic-photo-contest-2015-winners
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
"These people described Mr. Sanders’ team as decidedly less emphatic in private discussions about having more primary debates than they have been in public, realizing that debates are not his strength."
"These people described Mr. Sanders’ team as decidedly less emphatic in private discussions about having more primary debates than they have been in public, realizing that debates are not his strength."
and
“I asked Senator Sanders” to do more, said Mr. O’Malley. “Senator Sanders didn’t want to do more debates either. He kind of liked where it is.”
Originally shared by ****
For those of you who are struggling with the Bernie campaign behavior this will help make sense of the behavior you see……
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/12/29/top-bernie-sanders-aide-rankles-those-in-and-out-of-campaign/?_r=0
and
“I asked Senator Sanders” to do more, said Mr. O’Malley. “Senator Sanders didn’t want to do more debates either. He kind of liked where it is.”
Originally shared by ****
For those of you who are struggling with the Bernie campaign behavior this will help make sense of the behavior you see……
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/12/29/top-bernie-sanders-aide-rankles-those-in-and-out-of-campaign/?_r=0
"I’ve come to believe that, in some ways, saying nice things about Hillary Clinton is a subversive act."
"I’ve come to believe that, in some ways, saying nice things about Hillary Clinton is a subversive act."
http://sadydoyle.tumblr.com/post/135664586198/likable
http://sadydoyle.tumblr.com/post/135664586198/likable
Friday, December 25, 2015
Originally shared by Jani Siekkinen
Originally shared by Jani Siekkinen
On this day long ago, a child was born who, by age 30, would transform the world.
Happy birthday Isaac Newton B. Dec 25,1642.
Originally shared by Matt Austern
Originally shared by Matt Austern
Apparently people in at least some circles are worried about the possibility that Hilary Clinton might already have the Democratic nomination wrapped up despite Bernie Sanders's popularity. I looked up the numbers and references to respond to a friend's post, so as long as I've got all that stuff collected I may as well hoist it from comments. Summary: this idea has some basis in fact, but it's more false than true.
The true part is that, of the 712 superdelegates (people who are delegates by virtue of holding an official position, and who aren't required to vote for a specific candidate), 359 of them have said they support Clinton and only 8 have said they support Sanders, at least as of a month ago. The remainder haven't endorsed any candidate. (http://www.npr.org/2015/11/13/455812702/clinton-has-45-to-1-superdelegate-advantage-over-sanders)
The false parts: (a) The superdelegates are a small fraction of the total 4764 delegates expected at the Democratic convention. (https://ballotpedia.org/Democratic_National_Convention,_2016#Delegation_selection) This gives Clinton an edge over Sanders and O'Malley, but by no means a lock. (b) Superdelegates can and do change their mind depending on who wins primaries. Clinton started with an edge in superdelegates in 2008 too, after all. If in fact Sanders wins the primary votes then I expect he'll get the nomination. (c) A phrase like "despite Sanders's popularity" is misleading at best, by suggesting that Sanders is the popular choice. In fact, though, an aggregate of the latest polls (http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/pollster/2016-national-democratic-primary) shows Clinton with a considerable lead over Sanders and O'Malley combined. Clinton's lead over Sanders is about as large as Sanders's lead over O'Malley. It's a long time before any votes get cast, so things might well change, but at this point it looks like Clinton will probably get the nomination the old fashioned way, by getting the most votes.
http://www.npr.org/2015/11/13/455812702/clinton-has-45-to-1-superdelegate-advantage-over-sanders
Apparently people in at least some circles are worried about the possibility that Hilary Clinton might already have the Democratic nomination wrapped up despite Bernie Sanders's popularity. I looked up the numbers and references to respond to a friend's post, so as long as I've got all that stuff collected I may as well hoist it from comments. Summary: this idea has some basis in fact, but it's more false than true.
The true part is that, of the 712 superdelegates (people who are delegates by virtue of holding an official position, and who aren't required to vote for a specific candidate), 359 of them have said they support Clinton and only 8 have said they support Sanders, at least as of a month ago. The remainder haven't endorsed any candidate. (http://www.npr.org/2015/11/13/455812702/clinton-has-45-to-1-superdelegate-advantage-over-sanders)
The false parts: (a) The superdelegates are a small fraction of the total 4764 delegates expected at the Democratic convention. (https://ballotpedia.org/Democratic_National_Convention,_2016#Delegation_selection) This gives Clinton an edge over Sanders and O'Malley, but by no means a lock. (b) Superdelegates can and do change their mind depending on who wins primaries. Clinton started with an edge in superdelegates in 2008 too, after all. If in fact Sanders wins the primary votes then I expect he'll get the nomination. (c) A phrase like "despite Sanders's popularity" is misleading at best, by suggesting that Sanders is the popular choice. In fact, though, an aggregate of the latest polls (http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/pollster/2016-national-democratic-primary) shows Clinton with a considerable lead over Sanders and O'Malley combined. Clinton's lead over Sanders is about as large as Sanders's lead over O'Malley. It's a long time before any votes get cast, so things might well change, but at this point it looks like Clinton will probably get the nomination the old fashioned way, by getting the most votes.
http://www.npr.org/2015/11/13/455812702/clinton-has-45-to-1-superdelegate-advantage-over-sanders
Thursday, December 24, 2015
It really must be watched...
It really must be watched...
Originally shared by Woozle Hypertwin
I couldn't resist the opportunity to do this. The weather was just too right. Sorry for the shaky camera and shaky voice. >.>
I feel like I should go back and add piano or something, but then I'd still be working on this in January. Maybe I'll do that for next year.
-- Lyrics --
I'm looking at a wet Christmas
Not like the ones we used to know
When the globe is warming
There'll be no snow forming
Just a winter mix to make the traffic slow
I'm looking at a wet Christmas
Not like the ones we used to know
Now the climate's changing
It's re-arranging
The jet stream, and what happens down below
I'm looking at a wet Christmas
Without a flake of snow in sight
May you enjoy December
As you remember
When all your Christmases were white.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPzSGTxaO6M
Originally shared by Woozle Hypertwin
I couldn't resist the opportunity to do this. The weather was just too right. Sorry for the shaky camera and shaky voice. >.>
I feel like I should go back and add piano or something, but then I'd still be working on this in January. Maybe I'll do that for next year.
-- Lyrics --
I'm looking at a wet Christmas
Not like the ones we used to know
When the globe is warming
There'll be no snow forming
Just a winter mix to make the traffic slow
I'm looking at a wet Christmas
Not like the ones we used to know
Now the climate's changing
It's re-arranging
The jet stream, and what happens down below
I'm looking at a wet Christmas
Without a flake of snow in sight
May you enjoy December
As you remember
When all your Christmases were white.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPzSGTxaO6M
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Originally shared by Kris Nelson
Originally shared by Kris Nelson
Never in my life would i have imagined sharing something for FOX but this is the best endorsement Bush 111 could give
https://mobile.twitter.com/MPasset/status/677138228701495296
Originally shared by McSpockyTM Is Watching
Originally shared by McSpockyTM Is Watching
http://bit.ly/1OMeKsq
http://bit.ly/1OMeKsq
The video clip is also interesting. Not the bombast that's become so common, but instead, thoughtful, carefully considered positions.
The video clip is also interesting. Not the bombast that's become so common, but instead, thoughtful, carefully considered positions.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jul/15/hillary-clinton/hillary-clinton-says-she-called-wall-street-regula/
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jul/15/hillary-clinton/hillary-clinton-says-she-called-wall-street-regula/
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
"We rate Sanders’ claim that the campaign didn’t "go out and take" information as Mostly False."
"We rate Sanders’ claim that the campaign didn’t "go out and take" information as Mostly False."
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/dec/22/bernie-s/Sanders-take-Clinton-voter-data/
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/dec/22/bernie-s/Sanders-take-Clinton-voter-data/
"For months now, America Rising has sent out a steady stream of posts on social media attacking Mrs. Clinton, some of them specifically designed to be spotted, and shared, by liberals."
"For months now, America Rising has sent out a steady stream of posts on social media attacking Mrs. Clinton, some of them specifically designed to be spotted, and shared, by liberals."
Of course, this comes from the NY Times, which, as everybody knows, is conspiring with Clinton...
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/17/us/politics/the-right-aims-at-democrats-on-social-media-to-hit-clinton.html?_r=0
Of course, this comes from the NY Times, which, as everybody knows, is conspiring with Clinton...
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/17/us/politics/the-right-aims-at-democrats-on-social-media-to-hit-clinton.html?_r=0
Monday, December 21, 2015
Amazing human turd in operation
Amazing human turd in operation
Originally shared by ****
Trumpites? This is your leader……..?
http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/21/politics/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-disgusting/index.html
Originally shared by ****
Trumpites? This is your leader……..?
http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/21/politics/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-disgusting/index.html
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Originally shared by Joshua Robbin Marks (ืืืืฉืข ืจืืืื ืืืจืงืก)
Originally shared by Joshua Robbin Marks (ืืืืฉืข ืจืืืื ืืืจืงืก)
Amazing. Nearly 200 nations just signed a historic climate agreement in Paris and not a single question about climate change at last night's Democratic presidential debate.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/12/19/climate_change_was_absent_from_abc_s_democratic_debate.html
Amazing. Nearly 200 nations just signed a historic climate agreement in Paris and not a single question about climate change at last night's Democratic presidential debate.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/12/19/climate_change_was_absent_from_abc_s_democratic_debate.html
"Sheeple" is such a stupid word...
"Sheeple" is such a stupid word...
Originally shared by John Hardy
Sheeple
If you are a frequent and unironic user of this term, please uncircle me now.
Thanks.
https://xkcd.com/610/
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Friday, December 18, 2015
Originally shared by Andreas Schou
Originally shared by Andreas Schou
The audit logs from the Sanders campaign seem... extraordinarily bad. They explicitly searched Hillary's data from early primary states for low and high-affinity voters -- a search which is more-or-less useless for anything other than targeting voters which Hillary has written off.
If the Sanders campaign was simply trying to prove that they could get into someone else's namespace, they picked the most suspicious way to do it. The DNC has almost certainly done the right thing by restoring Sanders' access -- it's not the whole campaign's fault -- but both contractor that let this happen and Bernie's entire IT staff should be fired.
Out of a cannon.
Into the sun.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2015/images/12/18/merged_document.pdf
The audit logs from the Sanders campaign seem... extraordinarily bad. They explicitly searched Hillary's data from early primary states for low and high-affinity voters -- a search which is more-or-less useless for anything other than targeting voters which Hillary has written off.
If the Sanders campaign was simply trying to prove that they could get into someone else's namespace, they picked the most suspicious way to do it. The DNC has almost certainly done the right thing by restoring Sanders' access -- it's not the whole campaign's fault -- but both contractor that let this happen and Bernie's entire IT staff should be fired.
Out of a cannon.
Into the sun.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2015/images/12/18/merged_document.pdf
Originally shared by Andreas Schou
Originally shared by Andreas Schou
The audit logs from the Sanders campaign seem... extraordinarily bad. They explicitly searched Hillary's data from early primary states for low and high-affinity voters -- a search which is more-or-less useless for anything other than targeting voters which Hillary has written off.
If the Sanders campaign was simply trying to prove that they could get into someone else's namespace, they picked the most suspicious way to do it. The DNC has almost certainly done the right thing by restoring Sanders' access -- it's not the whole campaign's fault -- but both contractor that let this happen and Bernie's entire IT staff should be fired.
Out of a cannon.
Into the sun.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2015/images/12/18/merged_document.pdf
The audit logs from the Sanders campaign seem... extraordinarily bad. They explicitly searched Hillary's data from early primary states for low and high-affinity voters -- a search which is more-or-less useless for anything other than targeting voters which Hillary has written off.
If the Sanders campaign was simply trying to prove that they could get into someone else's namespace, they picked the most suspicious way to do it. The DNC has almost certainly done the right thing by restoring Sanders' access -- it's not the whole campaign's fault -- but both contractor that let this happen and Bernie's entire IT staff should be fired.
Out of a cannon.
Into the sun.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2015/images/12/18/merged_document.pdf
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Originally shared by Jordan Peacock
Originally shared by Jordan Peacock
Venkatesh Rao:
1/ Keynes famously asked, "When my information changes, I alter my conclusions. What do you do, sir?"
2/ For many people, the answer is, "I restate what I already believe more stridently." In other words, when the facts change, they derp.
9/ In a tribal world of timeless sacred beliefs, where new information is profane by default, to change your mind is to betray your tribe.
10/ Derping is a degenerate form of motivated reasoning, where you don't even bother looking for confirmatory evidence. You just repeat yourself.
17/ To get out of the habit of derping, you can do two things: practice changing your mind in public and practice contingent reasoning.
20/ Contingent reasoning -- working with if-then assertions that have a finite scope rather than absolute, unqualified assertions -- is like insurance against changing facts.
21/ This does not mean slipping into weasel mode where you hem and haw about everything to avoid making decisions or acting.
http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=78cbbb7f2882629a5157fa593&id=6c1a8c9db3
http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=78cbbb7f2882629a5157fa593&id=6c1a8c9db3
Venkatesh Rao:
1/ Keynes famously asked, "When my information changes, I alter my conclusions. What do you do, sir?"
2/ For many people, the answer is, "I restate what I already believe more stridently." In other words, when the facts change, they derp.
9/ In a tribal world of timeless sacred beliefs, where new information is profane by default, to change your mind is to betray your tribe.
10/ Derping is a degenerate form of motivated reasoning, where you don't even bother looking for confirmatory evidence. You just repeat yourself.
17/ To get out of the habit of derping, you can do two things: practice changing your mind in public and practice contingent reasoning.
20/ Contingent reasoning -- working with if-then assertions that have a finite scope rather than absolute, unqualified assertions -- is like insurance against changing facts.
21/ This does not mean slipping into weasel mode where you hem and haw about everything to avoid making decisions or acting.
http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=78cbbb7f2882629a5157fa593&id=6c1a8c9db3
http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=78cbbb7f2882629a5157fa593&id=6c1a8c9db3
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Originally shared by Steve S
Originally shared by Steve S
Sanders goes negative, then changes his mind.
Oh, and the accusation he uses is false.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/12/12/sanders-abruptly-pulls-internet-ad-saying-clinton-is-being-funded-by-big-money-interests
Sanders goes negative, then changes his mind.
Oh, and the accusation he uses is false.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/12/12/sanders-abruptly-pulls-internet-ad-saying-clinton-is-being-funded-by-big-money-interests
Originally shared by Pete McGowan
Originally shared by Pete McGowan
Even Bloomberg Financial News can see that President Obama's refusal to send ground troops to Syria isn't that bad of a plan. President Putin apparently didn't learn anything from the Russian quagmire in Afghanistan, and is rapidly burning through Russia's now small checkbook. The Ruble is now breaking through its 2014 lows, which was already essentially at the bottom of a cliff. The Ruble has lost half its value since 2014.
http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=RUB&to=USD&view=5Y
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-09/putin-proves-obama-prescient-on-syria-as-russia-faces-quagmire-ihzauuvr
Even Bloomberg Financial News can see that President Obama's refusal to send ground troops to Syria isn't that bad of a plan. President Putin apparently didn't learn anything from the Russian quagmire in Afghanistan, and is rapidly burning through Russia's now small checkbook. The Ruble is now breaking through its 2014 lows, which was already essentially at the bottom of a cliff. The Ruble has lost half its value since 2014.
http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=RUB&to=USD&view=5Y
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-09/putin-proves-obama-prescient-on-syria-as-russia-faces-quagmire-ihzauuvr
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Originally shared by John Walkup
Originally shared by John Walkup
" A loose network of 4,556 individuals with overlapping ties to 164 organizations do the most to dispute climate change in the U.S....
ExxonMobil and the family foundations controlled by Charles and David Koch emerge as the most significant sources of funding for these skeptics.
He examined Internal Revenue Service data showing which groups in the network of climate contrarians accepted funding from ExxonMobil or Koch foundations between 1993 and 2013. Recipients from those two sources tend to occupy central nodes in what he calls a "contrarian network." Groups funded by ExxonMobil or the Kochs "have greater influence over flows of resources, communication, and the production of contrarian information," Farrell wrote.
The research was neither easy nor glamorous. One particular element of tedium was making sure that individuals were not represented more than once. Farrell analyzed the individuals, eliminated all middle initials, corrected misspellings, and deleted courtesy titles. "This was completed by hand," he noted, "on all 4,556 names." A supplement to the paper lists all 164 of the organizations he identified as promoting climate-change skepticism, a roster that includes the CATO Institute, the Heritage Foundation, and the Heartland Institute.
Once he understood the network, Farrell investigated which organizations were most successful in pushing their view. He found that groups with ties to the two big donors were more likely to see their viewpoints make it into media than those without such ties.
Farrell's research took him through 40,785 documents from contrarian groups; 14,943 from the New York Times, Washington Times, and USA Today; 1,930 from U.S. presidents; and 7,786 from Congress.
For Robert Brulle, a sociology professor at Drexel University who has conducted research on the topic, Farrell's research helps define how climate denial works. "Corporate funders create and support conservative think tanks," which then pass off climate misinformation as valid. The mainstream media pick up on it, which helps shape public opinion.
"This brings up the following question," Brulle said. "Why is the media picking up and promulgating the central themes of climate misinformation?" "
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-30/unearthing-america-s-deep-network-of-climate-change-deniers
" A loose network of 4,556 individuals with overlapping ties to 164 organizations do the most to dispute climate change in the U.S....
ExxonMobil and the family foundations controlled by Charles and David Koch emerge as the most significant sources of funding for these skeptics.
He examined Internal Revenue Service data showing which groups in the network of climate contrarians accepted funding from ExxonMobil or Koch foundations between 1993 and 2013. Recipients from those two sources tend to occupy central nodes in what he calls a "contrarian network." Groups funded by ExxonMobil or the Kochs "have greater influence over flows of resources, communication, and the production of contrarian information," Farrell wrote.
The research was neither easy nor glamorous. One particular element of tedium was making sure that individuals were not represented more than once. Farrell analyzed the individuals, eliminated all middle initials, corrected misspellings, and deleted courtesy titles. "This was completed by hand," he noted, "on all 4,556 names." A supplement to the paper lists all 164 of the organizations he identified as promoting climate-change skepticism, a roster that includes the CATO Institute, the Heritage Foundation, and the Heartland Institute.
Once he understood the network, Farrell investigated which organizations were most successful in pushing their view. He found that groups with ties to the two big donors were more likely to see their viewpoints make it into media than those without such ties.
Farrell's research took him through 40,785 documents from contrarian groups; 14,943 from the New York Times, Washington Times, and USA Today; 1,930 from U.S. presidents; and 7,786 from Congress.
For Robert Brulle, a sociology professor at Drexel University who has conducted research on the topic, Farrell's research helps define how climate denial works. "Corporate funders create and support conservative think tanks," which then pass off climate misinformation as valid. The mainstream media pick up on it, which helps shape public opinion.
"This brings up the following question," Brulle said. "Why is the media picking up and promulgating the central themes of climate misinformation?" "
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-30/unearthing-america-s-deep-network-of-climate-change-deniers
Friday, December 11, 2015
Originally shared by Kee Hinckley
Originally shared by Kee Hinckley
These are my daughters. If you attack Middle Easterners fleeing persecution, you attack them. Their mother came here from Iran after the revolution, looking for a safer life. America let her in despite our conflict with Iran, because American principles are more important than our fears and disputes. If you don't believe our principles always come first, then you don't believe in America.
Make no mistake. When you attack immigrants, you're attacking America. We're a nation of immigrants. Of all races. Of all creeds. Anyone who doesn't believe that, is welcome to leave and find another country. Because if you turn your back on immigrants in need, if you turn your back on freedom of religion, you understand less about what it means to be an American than every immigrant who ever stepped onto our soil.
Being born an American is nothing to be proud of. Being born an American is easy; any idiot can get born here. Immigrants and refugees earned the right to come here. Nobody is more American than the person who came here fleeing repression and seeking freedom.
If you want to be proud of being an American, then you have to support American ideals. Speak out against those who seek to limit speech, limit religion, or turn away people in need. Don't mute what they say. Don't let it go for the sake of friendship or family. Speak out.
Silence isn't just death. Silence is blood on our hands. The blood of those we turned away. And the blood of a country that fell, not because of war or terrorism, but because we were afraid to trust the very principles that made it strong.
#syria #refugees #freedom
"And there’s the rub. Had Merkel not presided over the arrival of nearly one million refugees and migrants in one year (950,000, according to the latest official figures), she would still be the unchallenged empress of Germany and Europe."
"And there’s the rub. Had Merkel not presided over the arrival of nearly one million refugees and migrants in one year (950,000, according to the latest official figures), she would still be the unchallenged empress of Germany and Europe."
Originally shared by Victor H
After her finest hour, Merkel now needs help from all Europe.
http://gu.com/p/4fxmk?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Google%2B
Originally shared by Victor H
After her finest hour, Merkel now needs help from all Europe.
http://gu.com/p/4fxmk?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Google%2B
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Monday, December 7, 2015
The comments are a hoot. Some Bernie supporters, unfortunately, will feel right at home.
The comments are a hoot. Some Bernie supporters, unfortunately, will feel right at home.
Originally shared by David Badash
http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/davidbadash/hillary_clinton_beats_every_top_gop_presidential_candidate_especially_donald_trump_in_latest_poll
Originally shared by David Badash
http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/davidbadash/hillary_clinton_beats_every_top_gop_presidential_candidate_especially_donald_trump_in_latest_poll
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Originally shared by mark white
Originally shared by mark white
We Asked a Fascism Expert if Donald Trump Is a Fascist via the @VICE Android App http://m.vice.com/read/we-asked-a-fascism-expert-if-donald-trump-is-a-fascist-124
http://m.vice.com/read/we-asked-a-fascism-expert-if-donald-trump-is-a-fascist-124
We Asked a Fascism Expert if Donald Trump Is a Fascist via the @VICE Android App http://m.vice.com/read/we-asked-a-fascism-expert-if-donald-trump-is-a-fascist-124
http://m.vice.com/read/we-asked-a-fascism-expert-if-donald-trump-is-a-fascist-124
The Stanford Prison experiment and the Milgram experiment are frequently referenced as examples of how through the action of perceived authority people can be twisted to do evil. However, one can imagine similar experiments where the students were conditioned to acts of unusual kindness.
The Stanford Prison experiment and the Milgram experiment are frequently referenced as examples of how through the action of perceived authority people can be twisted to do evil. However, one can imagine similar experiments where the students were conditioned to acts of unusual kindness.
Three corollaries: 1) a saintly society is possible; 2) people in authority, in particular, political figures and news outlets, bear significant responsibility for the bad behavior of their followers; 3) we all bear a responsibility to proselytize goodness.
Three corollaries: 1) a saintly society is possible; 2) people in authority, in particular, political figures and news outlets, bear significant responsibility for the bad behavior of their followers; 3) we all bear a responsibility to proselytize goodness.
Saturday, December 5, 2015
"Clinton has continued to occupy that same space for the better part of three decades now, a one-woman culture war who plays the political game the same way the men around her do. But unlike those men, Clinton is chided for being “disingenuous” and a “political insider.” Everyone else just gets to do their job."
"Clinton has continued to occupy that same space for the better part of three decades now, a one-woman culture war who plays the political game the same way the men around her do. But unlike those men, Clinton is chided for being “disingenuous” and a “political insider.” Everyone else just gets to do their job."
Comments to original, please...
Originally shared by Victor H
I do agree with the author of this article and have refrained from any attacks on HRC myself in order to make my choice for POTUS, Sanders, look better in comparison. His merits stand well on their own.
http://www.salon.com/2015/12/05/the_ridiculous_left_wing_crusade_against_hillary_clinton_needs_to_stop/?source=newsletter
Comments to original, please...
Originally shared by Victor H
I do agree with the author of this article and have refrained from any attacks on HRC myself in order to make my choice for POTUS, Sanders, look better in comparison. His merits stand well on their own.
http://www.salon.com/2015/12/05/the_ridiculous_left_wing_crusade_against_hillary_clinton_needs_to_stop/?source=newsletter
Originally shared by ****
Originally shared by ****
This girl has to be remembered and culture has to arrive to the ignorant, cruel and fanatic people who are able to become killers only to keep children's abuse as an accepted way of life.
https://youtu.be/CY4gNBf2n3o
This girl has to be remembered and culture has to arrive to the ignorant, cruel and fanatic people who are able to become killers only to keep children's abuse as an accepted way of life.
https://youtu.be/CY4gNBf2n3o
Friday, December 4, 2015
Originally shared by Zaid El-Hoiydi
Originally shared by Zaid El-Hoiydi
Cold War Syndrome: guns are made available for everyone, making everyone feels the need to get a gun.
In 2003 the Japanese went as far as to ban the ownership of swords (http://goo.gl/aicBdl). Needless to say that, during our days in Japan, we have never had the slightest reason to fear anything but the rain and a craving to buy silly stuff.
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/07/a-land-without-guns-how-japan-has-virtually-eliminated-shooting-deaths/260189/
Cold War Syndrome: guns are made available for everyone, making everyone feels the need to get a gun.
In 2003 the Japanese went as far as to ban the ownership of swords (http://goo.gl/aicBdl). Needless to say that, during our days in Japan, we have never had the slightest reason to fear anything but the rain and a craving to buy silly stuff.
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/07/a-land-without-guns-how-japan-has-virtually-eliminated-shooting-deaths/260189/
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Dystopia turned up to 11: a method to supply child brides for the excess males resulting from the one child policy...
Dystopia turned up to 11: a method to supply child brides for the excess males resulting from the one child policy...
Originally shared by Ciro Villa
Chinese scientist claim to have achieved the necessary technology to clone humans
"The Chinese scientist behind the world's biggest cloning factory has technology advanced enough to replicate humans, he told AFP, and is only holding off for fear of the public reaction.
Boyalife Group and its partners are building the giant plant in the northern Chinese port of Tianjin, where it is due to go into production within the next seven months and aims for an output of one million cloned cows a year by 2020.
But cattle are only the beginning of chief executive Xu Xiaochun's ambitions.
In the factory pipeline are also thoroughbred racehorses, as well as pet and police dogs, specialised in searching and sniffing.
Boyalife is already working with its South Korean partner Sooam and the Chinese Academy of Sciences to improve primate cloning capacity to create better test animals for disease research.
And it is a short biological step from monkeys to humans—potentially raising a host of moral and ethical controversies."
http://phys.org/news/2015-12-china-clone-factory-scientist-eyes.html
http://phys.org/news/2015-12-china-clone-factory-scientist-eyes.html
Originally shared by Ciro Villa
Chinese scientist claim to have achieved the necessary technology to clone humans
"The Chinese scientist behind the world's biggest cloning factory has technology advanced enough to replicate humans, he told AFP, and is only holding off for fear of the public reaction.
Boyalife Group and its partners are building the giant plant in the northern Chinese port of Tianjin, where it is due to go into production within the next seven months and aims for an output of one million cloned cows a year by 2020.
But cattle are only the beginning of chief executive Xu Xiaochun's ambitions.
In the factory pipeline are also thoroughbred racehorses, as well as pet and police dogs, specialised in searching and sniffing.
Boyalife is already working with its South Korean partner Sooam and the Chinese Academy of Sciences to improve primate cloning capacity to create better test animals for disease research.
And it is a short biological step from monkeys to humans—potentially raising a host of moral and ethical controversies."
http://phys.org/news/2015-12-china-clone-factory-scientist-eyes.html
http://phys.org/news/2015-12-china-clone-factory-scientist-eyes.html
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
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