Fish for Friday

Koch brother David

Edited by Morris Dean

[Anonymous selections from recent correspondence]

So we're finally seeing a photo of one of the Koch brothers?: "Money laundering, Koch style."
Excerpt:

A few layers of the big ol' stinky onion that is the Koch brothers' political attack industry are peeled back in this massive report ["Koch-backed political coalition, designed to shield donors, raised $400 million in 2012"] in The Washington Post. It details myriad "nonprofit" organizations set up and shuffled around within the Koch network to fund what has become an almost exclusively anti-Obamacare campaign, and to conceal where all that money is actually coming from.

U.S. cover [click to enlarge]

TIME Magazine does it again: "First 2014 Cover in U.S. Compared to the Rest of the World." Excerpt:

In short: TIME thinks Americans are stupid, and so thus presents its content, despite covering real news issues. Which begs the question: at what point does a journalistic outlet's responsibility to raise public discourse and inform society outweigh market demands?
    For TIME, the answer is clear: never.

International cover [click to enlarge]

This is a beautiful, powerful and realistic slide show presentation about life: "If you fit the entire population of the world into a village consisting of 100 people....." [Click on a picture in the show to proceed to the next; there are 14 in all.]

China may actually be joining the 21st century, and this time in a positive way. Late last year we learned that China had launched its first aircraft carrier ("Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning") as part of building up of armaments to add clout to its "blue water" aspirations, a move which raised concerns with nearby neighbors and around the globe. Now it seems China is reacting to international pressure and is actually taking steps to deter poaching of elephants in Africa: "China Destroys Part of Illegal Ivory Stockpile."
    For years China has been the fast-growing market that has encouraged the slaughter of more and more elephants for their tusks, to the point that experts recently predicted elephants might soon live in the wild in only seven countries. If it turns out the Chinese government is actually serious about stopping the illegal ivory trade, this may be the break the great beasts need to survive in the wild. Now if only China would consider transforming that aircraft carrier from a war machine into the floating hotel it was once planned to be....

Greggor Ilagan initially
thought a ban
on genetically
modified organisms
was a good idea

The article "A Lonely Quest for Facts on Genetically Modified Crops" in the Sunday NY Times Magazine spoke to me. It is an account of a local politician in Hawaii, called upon to vote for a proposal to outlaw GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) from the island. Like me, he concluded after long investigation that such a step was not supported by the scientific evidence. Like me, (and even more, like several friends who were put on a citizen’s commission charged with a similar decision) he came under enormous pressure from many who believe with religious fervor that GMOs are evil. They were like climate change deniers, but in this case those rejecting the science are liberals.

It would be nice to see this catch on, although it will never happen Down South: "It Begins: Seattle Mayor Will Issue Executive Order to Raise City Workers' Mininum Wage to $15/hr." Insightful distinction: the difference between the current minimum wage and, say, $15 goes into employers' pockets as profit rather than to workers so that they might eat....
    As you know, I lived in Seattle for 14 years. While there are a lot of Democrats in Seattle, or King Co., most of the state is red. Once you are on the Eastern side of the mountains, it's a whole new world. Lucky for the state the numbers live in King Co. but that can change overnight.

More thoughts on the War on Poverty: "From LBJ's 'War on Poverty' to today's war on the poor." Excerpt:

Johnson’s vision scored great successes, but aspects of the poverty paradox he challenged still persist half a century later. Though America is much more prosperous today than in 1964, our wealth has been shared so unequally that millions remain poor or hovering at the margins. That poverty is pervasive, affecting rural, urban and suburban; White, Black, Native American and Hispanic; working and unemployed.
    Shamefully, instead of strengthening anti-poverty programs, too many of our political leaders train their sights on them. This assault assembled along two fronts in 2013, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP; formerly food stamps) and unemployment insurance (UI). Undoubtedly, it will regroup against upcoming efforts to raise the minimum wage.
    It is both baffling and unconscionable that Congress would allow constituents to go hungry, live without unemployment benefits, or be paid wages too low to meet basic needs—but that is what’s happening.

Thought of the day from Paul Krugman: "On Fighting the Last War (On Poverty)." Excerpt:

These days crime is way down, so is teenage pregnancy, and so on; society did not collapse. What collapsed instead is economic opportunity. If progress against poverty has been disappointing over the past half century, the reason is not the decline of the family but the rise of extreme inequality. We’re a much richer nation than we were in 1964, but little if any of that increased wealth has trickled down to workers in the bottom half of the income distribution.
    The trouble is that the American right is still living in the 1970s, or actually a Reaganite fantasy of the 1970s; its notion of an anti-poverty agenda is still all about getting those layabouts to go to work and stop living off welfare. The reality that lower-end jobs, even if you can get one, don’t pay enough to lift you out of poverty just hasn’t sunk in. And the idea of helping the poor by actually helping them remains anathema.
    Will it ever be possible to move this debate away from welfare queens and all that? I don’t know. But for now, the key to understanding poverty arguments is that the main cause of persistent poverty now is high inequality of market income—but that the right can’t bring itself to acknowledge that reality.

Do you have access to runs of "The Daily Show"? (Of course, on its website!) The Jan. 7 show had a segment on Colorado's legalization of recreational weed. It's funny to watch people who know nothing whatsoever about a subject try and act like they are experts in the field of pot smoking, especially when they are talking airheads on Faux News....Also, the segment with guest Steve Coogan talking about his film Philomena is great.

It has been one year since I sent this [birthday] email, and I can’t tell you how happy I am to send it again—lucky me. Just wanted to give you an early head’s up that I will be celebrating my birthday on SUNDAY, JANUARY 5, 2014.
    One of the ways in which I celebrate is by seeing as many of my favorite people as possible, so anyone who would like to (and can) please stop by...and have a drink, a bite to eat, or just to say hello. I will be parked at the bar from 6:30pm until...? And we’ve reserved the three bar booths for people to rotate in and out of.
    I’ll leave you with my standard line (nonetheless sincere!) yet again: if we didn’t have a birthday we couldn’t celebrate ANYTHING, so my intention as always is to make the very most of mine.

Be careful when you dispose of 9 volt batteries. The positive & negative terminals are close together and can be "shorted" if a conductor comes into contact with both. This video was prepared by a man whose house burned down as a result of such a short:


A musical surprise from MTV. Musical fusion and creativity bring amazing results.....

Abandoned subway beneath New York

Limerick of the Week:

No better council sits below heaven
than the one we have right here in Mebane.
    With all Glendel, Patty, & Jill's,
    Tim & Ed & Everette's skills,
we're all sure that something good's a given.^*

* Delivered orally as a tribute to the Mebane City Council on the occasion of its January 6, 2014 city meeting. Council Members: Mayor Glendel Stephenson, Jill Auditori, Tim Bradley, Everette Greene, Ed Hooks, Patty Philipps
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Copyright © 2014 by Morris Dean

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