Question of the Day -- On "Pro-Life"

Professor Robert Reich asks a terrific question today.

"Wouldn't it be nice if pro-lifers focused on ending gun violence? Or suicide prevention? Or abolishing the death penalty? Or stopping police killings? Or fighting poverty? Or combating the opioid epidemic? Or ending wars? You know, things that would actually save lives?" --Robert Reich @RBReich

A Solution to a Great Deal of America's Problems

Professor Robert Reich said it well and truly the other day when he asked if maybe we didn't incarcerate so many people, so many black Americans especially, in particular and instead, put that money into their schools and neighborhoods and lives. What a concept.

1--We imprison more of our citizens than any other nation, including China which dwarfs us

U.S. incarcerates more than any other nation

2--We incarcerate more black Americans, as a total percentage of our people, far more than white Americans and for the same offenses as whites.

Black Americans incarcerated 

five times more than white

We're "exceptional" all right.

Imagine putting all that money into these people's lives, their homes, their neighborhoods, their schools, even into their health care instead of putting them into prisons and incarceration.

Again, what a concept.

And the heck of it?

It would, first, strengthen the nation and second, improve our economy. But then same thing with cutting the obscene defense budget and plowing that money into our infrastructure.

Tell me all about that "American Exceptionalism."

Donald J Trump and the Truth

From, again, Professor Robert Reich.

Trump lies like most people breathe, and today was no exception. His speech this morning addressing Iran’s missile attacks on two American army bases in Iraq was riddled with misleading statements, inflammatory rhetoric, and outright lies. Among the most outrageous of Trump’s tall tales:

He claimed the Iranian people chanted “Death to America” on the day the nuclear deal was signed.
In reality, thousands of Iranians took to the streets to celebrate the signing of the nuclear deal, elated that a diplomatic channel between Iran and the United States had finally been opened after years of tensions. Public dancing, while normally banned, was even permitted as Iran’s citizens banded together in a rare display of national unity. He repeated a wild claim that the U.S. gave Iran "$150 billion, not to mention $1.8 billion in cash" after signing the deal.

This is patently untrue.

After the deal was signed, Iran regained access to $150 billion of its own assets, which had been frozen abroad. The $1.8 billion in cash was from a 1970s-era deal in which Iran paid the U.S. $400 million for military equipment that never ended up getting delivered due to the revolution, which disintegrated diplomatic relations. After the deal was signed in 2015, the U.S. agreed to pay Iran the original $400 million in addition to $1.3 billion in interest.

He again claimed that he had destroyed "100 percent of ISIS and its territorial caliphate". While its territorial caliphate is no longer, ISIS is very much alive and well.
In fact, ISIS is poised on the edge of resurgence thanks to Trump’s brash foreign policy decisions, including his abandonment of our Kurdish allies in Syria last October and last week’s strike against General Soleimani.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of all the lies Trump spouted this morning. At a time when world peace hangs precipitously in the balance, it is unconscionable that the American people cannot rely on the president to tell us the basic truth.

The Biggest--and Worst---Trade Deal Ever You Need to Know About

The biggest trade deal ever, in the history of the nation, is being considered right now and most people know very little or nothing at all of it.

It is the Trans-Pacific Partnership or the TPP and here, in only 2 minutes and 26 seconds, are some very important facts about it.



As ever, please take a moment to write your Congressional representatives in the House of Representatives and the Senate and heck, for the matter, the President himself and tell him your thoughts on this:

Contact the U.S. Congress and the White House

Thank you, in advance.

And enjoy your Sunday and keep safe and warm out there, if you got snow and GO PATRIOTS!

Things Americans don't do

Things we Americans don't do but Australians, wisely, do.

From economist Robert Reich's Facebook page last evening:

"Besides the other positive attributes I listed several days ago when I came to Australia, I should add several others -- 

a requirement that everyone votes, one of the best and most responsible safety nets for Australians who fall into poverty, including 

an efficient system of universal health care and 

public pensions, 

an excellent civil service, 

a carbon tax, 

a financial sector that hasn't become a casino, 

and a business community committed to improving living standards of Australians."

While it's true that Australia doesn't spend nearly as large a portion of its GDP on the military as we do, that's true of every other nation in the world. What makes Australia stand out is a strong sense of civil society, evident in almost all its institutions. (For example, Aussies don't like the current Labor government mainly, it seems, because Prime Minister Julia Gillard was put in place via a back-room deal that replaced Kevin Rudd, the Labor Leader they thought they were voting for in the last election.) The challenge here in future years is to move from a commodities-based export economy to a high-tech one -- but it's a challenge the nation seems fully aware of, and, given the strength of its civil and economic institutions, seems fully capable of pulling off."

The thing is, we Americans don't work together any longer. Congress doesn't. The political parties don't. We're broken and a lot of it, at least in government, is because the wealthy and corporations have bought our representatives. They legislate for them--for those wealthy and corporations--first and us second, if even then.

We have to go back and work together again. We have to be Americans, first and last. We have to work together to fix our problems. We have to compromise.

It's really not a dirty word.

Links:  Robert Reich

Robert Reich | Facebook

Robert Reich - Wikipedia

Finally: News about the radiation on the US from Fukushima

Ever since the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan blew, I've wondered how much radiation hit the US. And since then, I've seen nothing, nothing about it from media or our government. That surprised me a bit--I'm very naive about far too much--and disappointed me. Finally, today, an article on the internets: California Slammed With Fukushima Radiation "The Journal Environmental Science and Technology reports in a new study that the Fukushima radiation plume contacted North America at California 'with greatest exposure in central and southern California', and that Southern California's seaweed tested over 500% higher for radioactive iodine-131 than anywhere else in the U.S. and Canada: Projected paths of the radioactive atmospheric plume emanating from the Fukushima reactors, best described as airborne particles or aerosols for 131I, 137Cs, and 35S, and subsequent atmospheric monitoring showed it coming in contact with the North American continent at California, with greatest exposure in central and southern California. Government monitoring sites in Anaheim (southern California) recorded peak airborne concentrations of 131I at 1.9 pCi m−3." As the post then so wisely and succinctly says: "Anaheim is where Disneyland is located." Just in case you're thinking no one's out there or effected.

But wait! There's more! There's much, much more! (Naturally) In addition, radioactive debris is starting to wash up on the Pacific Coast. And because the Japanese are burning radioactive materials instead of disposing of them, radioactive rain-outs will continue for some time … even on the Pacific Coast. Nice, huh? So what are our respective governments doing about it, if anything, you might ask? Your answers: Instead of doing much to try to protect their citizens from Fukushima, Japan, the U.S. and the EU all just raised the radiation levels they deem “safe”.

Nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen says that high-level friends in the State Department told him that Hillary Clinton signed a pact with her counterpart in Japan agreeing that the U.S. will continue buying seafood from Japan, despite that food not being tested for radioactive materials.

And the Department of Energy is trying to replace the scientifically accepted model of the dangers of low dose radiation based on voodoo science. Specifically, DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley Labs used a mutant line of human cells in a petri dish which was able to repair damage from low doses of radiation, and extrapolated to the unsupported conclusion that everyone is immune to low doses of radiation… Isn't that all just lovely? So, finally, what is our government's response to information and data going foward? Great question: American and Canadian authorities have virtually stopped monitoring airborne radiation, and are not testing fish for radiation. If you weren't sick before, you probably should be now. (If after all that, you really are nauseous--not surprisingly--the comments at the links below have some magnificent, very dry and ascerbic wit to them, if that helps). Links: http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-13-30/california-slammed-fukushima-radiation; http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/update-fukushima-0; http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/fukushima-radiation-highest-ever-exceeding-capacity-measuring-device-fuel-likely-leaking; http://www.zerohedge.com/article/no-amount-radiation-released-japanese-nuclear-reactors-not-safe; http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/radioactive-iodine-blankets-much-europe-everyone-points-fingers

Quote of the day

"Those of you who worry that the President won't follow through on the ideas he put forth yesterday have every reason to be skeptical. But if we organize and mobilize around these ideas -- as the Occupiers have done -- we have a shot at creating a mandate for O and the Dems in 2012 and beyond. Nothing good happens in Washington unless good people outside Washington make it happen. Finally O is offering a large and true picture of where the nation has been and where we must go. He can't get there without us. We have to push him." --Robert Reich, Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, political economist, professor, author, and political commentator. Links: https://www.facebook.com/#!/RBReich; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Reich

Great question: What DOES the Republican leadership want?

"What kind of society, exactly, do modern Republicans want? I’ve been listening to Republican candidates in an effort to discern an overall philosophy, a broadly-shared vision, an ideal picture of America. They say they want a smaller government but that can’t be it. Most seek a larger national defense and more muscular homeland security. Almost all want to widen the government’s powers of search and surveillance inside the United States – eradicating possible terrorists, expunging undocumented immigrants, “securing” the nation’s borders. They want stiffer criminal sentences, including broader application of the death penalty. Many also want government to intrude on the most intimate aspects of private life." --Robert Reich, Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, writer, blogger, columnist. Link to original post: http://robertreich.org/post/13567144944

Quote of the day

"After bashing Fed, Perry now accusing scientists of lying about global warming. More right-wing gonzo populism. Keep this man in Texas." --Robert Reich, American political economist, professor, author, and political commentator. He served in the administrations of Presidents Ford and Carter and was Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997. Reich is currently Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. Links: http://twitter.com/#!/RBReich/statuses/103874512646447105; https://www.facebook.com/#!/RBReich; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Reich

Quote of the day

‎"Government-haters seem to be everywhere....One would have thought the last few years of mine disasters, exploding oil rigs, nuclear meltdowns, malfeasance on Wall Street, wildly-escalating costs of health insurance, rip-roaring CEO pay, and mass layoffs would have offered a singular opportunity to explain why the nation's collective well-being requires a strong and effective government representing the interests of average people." --Robert Reich, Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley; Author, 'Aftershock'. Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/the-rise-of-the-wreckingb_b_899871.html

Quote of the day--Ladies and Gentlemen, the Republican Party

"When virtually all the gains from economic growth go to a small minority at the top -- and the broad middle class can no longer pretend it's richer than it is through debt -- the result is deep-seated anxiety and frustration." --Robert Reich, Former Secretary of Labor, Professor at Berkeley Link to original post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/the-root-of-economic-frag_b_644465.html