Happy Sunday!

As ever, click on picture for easier reading.

Have a great day, y'all.

In case you want one:

FUNNY ATHEIST LOGIC ANTI-RELIGIOUS SHIRTS AND GIFTS

If We Can But Learn From All This... And Then Change

A friend sent me this yesterday. Wonderful video.


Here's hoping.

"Pity the Nation"

A friend on Facebook posted the following poem written by Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

I thought it uncannily appropriate and timely.

"PITY THE NATION"

(After Khalil Gibran)

Pity the nation whose people are sheep

And whose shepherds mislead them

Pity the nation whose leaders are liars

Whose sages are silenced

And whose bigots haunt the airwaves

Pity the nation that raises not its voice

Except to praise conquerers

And acclaim the bully as hero

And aims to rule the world

By force and by torture

Pity the nation that knows

No other language but its own

And no other culture but its own

Pity the nation whose breath is money

And sleeps the sleep of the too well fed

Pity the nation oh pity the people

who allow their rights to erode

and their freedoms to be washed away

My country, tears of thee

Sweet land of liberty!

Reputedly, a Canadian Asks Some Very Good and Relevant Questions of Us

What Canadians--and the World--Are Seeing Here In the US

I saw this today out on the interwebs. I couldn't confirm it's written by a Canadian but seriously, think about what they write. It seems a very real, fair and at least sad, if not ugly comment on America presently.

And he didn't even touch on shoveling yet more money to the already-wealthy and corporations while taking it from the middle- and lower-classes.

Again, thanks, Republicans!

And may God help us.

The Topsy-Turvy World of Trump

First there was this:

Trump's EPA pick rejects climate science, 

fights for fossil fuels

It gets worse.

Trump's EPA pick has fought vehemently ... 

against the EPA

And then there's Betsy DeVos, Trump's pick to head Education:

I'm telling you, folks, God help us.

Quote of the Day -- Timely

After this election, H.G. Wells' quote seems even more poignant. Carl Sagan pointed this out, too, years ago.

"Civilization is in a race between education and catastrophe. Let us learn the truth and spread it as far and wide as our circumstances allow. For the truth is the greatest weapon we have.”

--H.G. Wells

You Didn't Make the List, Kansas City!

Congratulations, Kansas City!  You didn't make the list!

America's Most Segregated Cities

I thought sure we'd be on here but we're not, thank goodness. Segregated and separated as we are, and by law, at the time, we aren't one of the worst.

As it turns out, however, St. Louis is, so Missouri didn't get left out. And the statistics are pretty brutal.

6. St. Louis, MO-IL
> Black ppl. in black neighborhoods: 42.2%
> Black population: 18.2%
> Black poverty rate: 29.7%
> White poverty rate: 9.0%

The St. Louis region earned a national spotlight in the summer of 2015 when Michael Brown, a black teenager, was shot and killed by police in Ferguson, sparking protests across the nation. Ferguson is a predominantly black neighborhood — and Brown’s death is inseparable from racial segregation in the area. One of the most damaging effects of residential segregation is funding disparities between neighboring school districts. Because property taxes play such a large role in school funding, well-off communities often
have an interest in keeping poor areas separate.

Instead of one, St. Louis has 24, quite disparate school districts. This August, water fountains in 30 predominantly black St. Louis public schools were shut down due to lead contamination. Some of the area’s wealthiest communities with some of the best-funded schools are less than 20 miles away, and with state-of-art facilities, have reliable clean water.

As is common in large metro areas — not just the most segregated — the poverty rate among black St. Louis residents, at nearly 30%, is approximately three times the poverty rate among the area’s white residents.

The St. Louis region earned a national spotlight in the summer of 2015 when Michael Brown, a black teenager, was shot and killed by police in Ferguson, sparking protests across the nation. Ferguson is a predominantly black neighborhood — and Brown’s death is inseparable from racial segregation in the area. One of the most damaging effects of residential segregation is funding disparities between neighboring school districts. Because property taxes play such a large role in school funding, well-off communities often have an interest in keeping poor areas separate.

Instead of one, St. Louis has 24, quite disparate school districts. This August, water fountains in 30 predominantly black St. Louis public schools were shut down due to lead contamination. Some of the area’s wealthiest communities with some of the best funded schools are less than 20 miles away, and with state-of-art facilities, have reliable clean water.

As is common in large metro areas — not just the most segregated — the poverty rate among black St. Louis residents, at nearly 30%, is approximately three times the poverty rate among the area’s white residents.

So you see, it's not just about people of different colors being separated. It's about opportunities and jobs and education, right on down to wealth, certainly. Segregation becomes about perpetuating both wealth and poverty.

And that's just wrong. 

Links:

How segregation creates chronic unemployment, 

poverty traps, and crime

The Effect of Segregation on Crime Rates

Poverty and Crime: Breaking a Vicious Cycle of Discrimination

Lead In Water: What Are The Health Effects And Dangers?

Why lead is so dangerous for children

Since When, America?

From a friend's Facebook post today:

Since when did wanting a society:

* that is as inclusive as possible
* that works effectively for all its members
* that provides opportunity equally regardless of accidents of birth
* that places the rights of people above the rights of corporations.
* that protects its resources for future generations
* that treats its citizens equally before the law
* that protects its most vulnerable members
* that cooperates in preference to dominating
* that values education and wisdom

become a "radical" idea?

Thanks, Doug.

From Kansas: Letter to the Editor

I saw this letter to the editor to the Editor of the Lawrence Journal-World yesterday, Sunday, out on Facebook.

Letter: Sad state of affairs

To the editor:

I became an avid newspaper reader in 1939 and have maintained that practice into my eighth decade. In all that time, through wars and depression, I have never been as concerned about our political system. From the deadlock in Washington to the would-be oligarchs in Topeka, I believe our democracy is threatened. I will limit this letter to two immediate concerns.

Our education system is under attack. In our state, the teaching profession has been decimated by the failure to fund schools and the removal of teacher rights. As a retired teacher at Lawrence High School, I am concerned about the exodus of good teachers and the quality of education for ALL our youth. Democracy is dependent on an educated and informed electorate.

After retiring, I secured a position as a bailiff in the district court. In 23 years, I worked for a number of judges, some still on the bench and some retired. Every one of them, in my opinion, was well-qualified and fair-minded. Training to correctly interpret and apply the law is a long and difficult process. Our current administration would change a fair method of selecting judges to make it political. It appears to be a clear violation of the separation of the powers of our government.

So what next? Shall we build a wall around Kansas to prevent a mass exit of teachers, judges and our youth? Maybe we could fund it without raising taxes by transferring funds from education, transportation or anything that would benefit those of us who are not wealthy.

You can't say it any better than that.

Mr. Brownback? Kansas Republicans?

Who We Are, America

Who we are, what we've become, what we're actually doing, in spite of what we think of ourselves.

---Our health care has become unobtainable for millions of us.  And we know it.

US Healthcare: Most Expensive and 

Worst Performing

---Same with college education (actually, according to this ranking, we're 3rd most expensive in the world but climbing).

10 Most Expensive Countries for College 

in the World in 2015

---We spend more on what we call defense than any other nation, bar none and far and away, yet we no doubt think of ourselves as a peaceful people and nation.

World's Top Military Spenders: U.S. Spends More than Next Top 14 Countries Combined.

---same with weapons---we are the world's number one arms seller.

World's Largest Weapons Exporters

So congratulations, America and Americans. I don't think you really know exactly who you actually are and/or what you're doing in the world and even to your own nation.

What We've Done to Teaching and "Education" in America

The Fellowship for Putting Stupid Theories into Schools

We’re known by many names across the spectrum left to right

Promoting fear and ostracism, ignorance and blight,

We promise health and happiness in dimly distant days

And ask your current sacrifice to give ourselves a raise.

We don’t get caught because we’ve got new education rules

As one by one we take away our children’s thinking tools

The Fellowship for Putting Stupid Theories into Schools.

It’s awkward when our kids come home with something they have learned

That would have in the good old days have got us staked and burned.

They question blind authority as if that were old hat,

They judge our bland hypocrisy – and we’ll have none of that!

They’ve even said that we should have alternative energy fuels!

But we’ll stop that: we’ll take away their critical thinking tools,

The Fellowship for Putting Stupid Theories into Schools.

Postmodernist, conservative, we’re pretty much on par

We undermine enlightenment embracing the bizarre.

Oh, nothing good will come of it if children learn to think --

They’ll realize we’ve left them at and teetering on the brink.

Our only hope’s to rot their brains and turn them into fools

By teaching tests instead of teaching critical thinking tools.

The Fellowship for Putting Stupid Theories into Schools.

Whenever you have heard a child say something really dumb,

Or seen adults enamored with what art has now become,

Or read about the legislature’s vote to buy a tank

Instead of raising teachers’ pay, it’s us you have to thank –

It isn’t just by accident our citizens are fools --

For we’re the ones who give the zealous ignorant their tools:

The Fellowship for Putting Stupid Theories into Schools.

-- Marcus Bales

Missouri, Ferguson, Racism and Possible Solutions in the NYT today

From the New York Times "Monday briefing":

Racial inequality in Missouri

A commission appointed by the governor after the death of Michael Brown in August 2014 is calling for sweeping changes on matters of policing, the courts, education, health care, housing and more.

Among the top priorities outlined in the 198-page report that will be made public in Ferguson, Mo., this afternoon: increasing the minimum wage, expanding eligibility for Medicaid and consolidating the patchwork of 60 police forces and 81 municipal courts that cover St. Louis and its suburbs.

The full article is here:

Panel Studying Racial Divide in Missouri Presents a Blunt Picture of Inequity

Here's hoping there are improvements. And soon.

Quote of the Day

Quote of the Day -- On Paths Forward

Could We Not Demonize True Socialism?

Please?

socialism

[ ˈsōSHəˌlizəm ]

NOUN

noun: socialism

a political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

 

 

Quote of the Day--On Where We're Headed?

Very insightful statement/quote. Is this not, possibly, what we're becoming, if not what we've become?

Quote of the Day -- Us vs. the Rest of the World

Who and What's Bankrupting America?

The corporations and wealthy are bankrupting America, for one, what with all the tax deductions they buy themselves from their---our----legislators, with campaign contributions. They get to write off untold "expenses." Even "Big Oil", one of the most profitable industries in the nation and world, and then they offshore profits, on top of it.

The other culprit bankrupting America?

Look no further than the obscene, bloated, wasteful, nearly completely unaccounted for, utterly immoral defense budget:

Kansas City Gets Some Mention from the Oval Office

Kansas City, as I said above, gets some mention this week from the Oval Office and President Obama, largely due to Google's internet speeds:


Because here's what the big internet providers and free market Capitalism are doing to us in America. They're doing the same thing to us on internet speeds and costs as the health care companies have done and are doing to us for our health care:

Americans are paying more for slower Internet

We're just not that bright.