Friday, August 25, 2017
Schizophrenic
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
Trump’s rhetorical schizophrenia is easy to see through
By Michael Gerson
The gap between Trump extemporaneous and Trump scripted is canyon-like. The normal role of a speechwriter is to find, refine and elevate the voice of a leader. The greatest professional victory comes when a president thinks: This is the way I would sound if I had more time to write and more talent with language. In these circumstances, speechwriting is not deception; it is amplification.
But what about speechwriting that is designed to give a leader a different voice? Here moral issues begin to lurk. Is it ethical to make a cynical leader appear principled? A violent leader seem pacific? A cruel leader seem compassionate? This calculation is difficult, because most of us have an incongruous mix of such traits. Or maybe a speechwriter can hope a president will eventually rise to the level of his teleprompter.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-rhetorical-schizophrenia-is-easy-to-see-through/2017/08/24/2163ab42-88f3-11e7-a50f-e0d4e6ec070a_story.html?utm_term=.331a5bddc2c8
Trump’s rhetorical schizophrenia is easy to see through
By Michael Gerson
The gap between Trump extemporaneous and Trump scripted is canyon-like. The normal role of a speechwriter is to find, refine and elevate the voice of a leader. The greatest professional victory comes when a president thinks: This is the way I would sound if I had more time to write and more talent with language. In these circumstances, speechwriting is not deception; it is amplification.
But what about speechwriting that is designed to give a leader a different voice? Here moral issues begin to lurk. Is it ethical to make a cynical leader appear principled? A violent leader seem pacific? A cruel leader seem compassionate? This calculation is difficult, because most of us have an incongruous mix of such traits. Or maybe a speechwriter can hope a president will eventually rise to the level of his teleprompter.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-rhetorical-schizophrenia-is-easy-to-see-through/2017/08/24/2163ab42-88f3-11e7-a50f-e0d4e6ec070a_story.html?utm_term=.331a5bddc2c8
Thursday, August 24, 2017
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
How We Travel
Fascinating article
From the Washington Post -
How the world gets around
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/opinions/transit-around-the-world/?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-c%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.a6b8a6f969a1
From the Washington Post -
How the world gets around
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/opinions/transit-around-the-world/?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-c%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.a6b8a6f969a1
Rare Prince Film
From Rolling Stone -
Rare Prince Concert Film 'Sign o' the Times' to Air on Showtime
Companion piece to album shot at Paisley Park Studios and on tour in the Netherlands and Belgium
By Kory Grow
Prince's 1987 concert film Sign o' the Times, which has been out of print in the U.S. since 1991, will be available to watch once again this summer. Showtime has acquired the right to the film and will debut it on September 16th at 9 p.m. EST.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/rare-prince-concert-film-sign-o-the-times-to-air-on-showtime-w499200
Rare Prince Concert Film 'Sign o' the Times' to Air on Showtime
Companion piece to album shot at Paisley Park Studios and on tour in the Netherlands and Belgium
By Kory Grow
Prince's 1987 concert film Sign o' the Times, which has been out of print in the U.S. since 1991, will be available to watch once again this summer. Showtime has acquired the right to the film and will debut it on September 16th at 9 p.m. EST.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/rare-prince-concert-film-sign-o-the-times-to-air-on-showtime-w499200
Dancing Boy Detained
From Salon -
Boy detained in Saudi Arabia after dancing the Macarena
After being filmed performing the dance in a crosswalk, a 14-year-old has run afoul of authorities
By GABRIEL BELL
http://www.salon.com/2017/08/23/boy-detained-in-saudi-arabia-after-dancing-the-macarena/?source=newsletter
Boy detained in Saudi Arabia after dancing the Macarena
After being filmed performing the dance in a crosswalk, a 14-year-old has run afoul of authorities
By GABRIEL BELL
Jeddah boy dancing in the middle of Tahlia Street is the hero we need pic.twitter.com/fui9v2UuDF— Ahmed Al Omran (@ahmed) August 19, 2017
http://www.salon.com/2017/08/23/boy-detained-in-saudi-arabia-after-dancing-the-macarena/?source=newsletter
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
A Priest Repents
An excerpt from the Arlington Catholic Herald -
Moving from hate to love with God’s grace
By Fr. William Aitcheson
In the course of one’s life, there are seminal moments that humble us and, in some cases, even bring shame. For the past several decades, I have been blessed with the opportunity to serve as a Catholic priest. Originally ordained for the Diocese of Reno-Las Vegas, I transferred to my home area here in the Diocese of Arlington.
What most people do not know about me is that as an impressionable young man, I was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. It’s public information but it rarely comes up. My actions were despicable. When I think back on burning crosses, a threatening letter, and so on, I feel as though I am speaking of somebody else. It’s hard to believe that was me.
http://catholicherald.com/News/Local_News/Moving_from_hate_to_love_with_God_s_grace/
Moving from hate to love with God’s grace
By Fr. William Aitcheson
In the course of one’s life, there are seminal moments that humble us and, in some cases, even bring shame. For the past several decades, I have been blessed with the opportunity to serve as a Catholic priest. Originally ordained for the Diocese of Reno-Las Vegas, I transferred to my home area here in the Diocese of Arlington.
What most people do not know about me is that as an impressionable young man, I was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. It’s public information but it rarely comes up. My actions were despicable. When I think back on burning crosses, a threatening letter, and so on, I feel as though I am speaking of somebody else. It’s hard to believe that was me.
http://catholicherald.com/News/Local_News/Moving_from_hate_to_love_with_God_s_grace/
Hoover vs. Gregory
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
J. Edgar Hoover saw Dick Gregory as a threat. So he schemed to have the Mafia ‘neutralize’ the comic.
By Kyle Swenson
Gregory’s caustic style, marrying humor and hard truths about race and politics, was the main theme of the tributes that popped up in the wake of the news of his death over the weekend at age 84. But during the chaotic summer feeding into the 1968 election, Gregory’s strong critique drilled to the heart of the political system.
“I feel that the two party system is obsolete,” he said in another 1968 interview. “The two party system is so corrupt and immoral, they cannot solve the problems confronting the masses of the people in this country.”
Gregory’s radical criticism was also putting him in a dangerous spot. As he campaigned, the comic fell into the paranoid crosshairs of J. Edgar Hoover, and the FBI director concocted a strange plan to potentially “neutralize” Gregory with the help of the Mafia.
The scheme would not emerge publicly until 10 years later, when files related to the bureau’s controversial surveillance activities on black radical and civil rights groups were first released.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/08/22/j-edgar-hoover-saw-dick-gregory-as-a-threat-so-he-schemed-to-have-the-mafia-neutralize-the-comic/?utm_term=.6df95915450f
J. Edgar Hoover saw Dick Gregory as a threat. So he schemed to have the Mafia ‘neutralize’ the comic.
By Kyle Swenson
Gregory’s caustic style, marrying humor and hard truths about race and politics, was the main theme of the tributes that popped up in the wake of the news of his death over the weekend at age 84. But during the chaotic summer feeding into the 1968 election, Gregory’s strong critique drilled to the heart of the political system.
“I feel that the two party system is obsolete,” he said in another 1968 interview. “The two party system is so corrupt and immoral, they cannot solve the problems confronting the masses of the people in this country.”
Gregory’s radical criticism was also putting him in a dangerous spot. As he campaigned, the comic fell into the paranoid crosshairs of J. Edgar Hoover, and the FBI director concocted a strange plan to potentially “neutralize” Gregory with the help of the Mafia.
The scheme would not emerge publicly until 10 years later, when files related to the bureau’s controversial surveillance activities on black radical and civil rights groups were first released.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/08/22/j-edgar-hoover-saw-dick-gregory-as-a-threat-so-he-schemed-to-have-the-mafia-neutralize-the-comic/?utm_term=.6df95915450f
Best Bay Area Cookie
From KQED Food -
Crispety, Crunchety, Ooey, Gooey, Chewy: My Search for a Better Bay Area Cookie
By Mark Taylor
https://ww2.kqed.org/bayareabites/2017/08/21/crispety-crunchety-ooey-gooey-chewy-my-search-for-a-better-bay-area-cookie/
Crispety, Crunchety, Ooey, Gooey, Chewy: My Search for a Better Bay Area Cookie
By Mark Taylor
https://ww2.kqed.org/bayareabites/2017/08/21/crispety-crunchety-ooey-gooey-chewy-my-search-for-a-better-bay-area-cookie/
Monday, August 21, 2017
Learning to Stand in Solidarity
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
Progressive, White Athletes Must Learn How To Stand In Solidarity
White athletes entering the conversation on race have tremendous responsibility and little time to learn, but their competency is crucial.
By P.L. Thomas, Contributor
P.L. Thomas , professor of education (Furman University, Greenville, SC), is author of Beware the Roadbuilders and Trumplandia (Garn Press).
The uncomfortable history of professional athletes being activists is often whitewashed itself, in part through the sort of revisionism that conservatives seem to reject. Think of how Muhammad Ali was mistreated while the greatest athlete on the planet in the 1960s, and then how he was praised in the decline of his life.
Because of ostracized Colin Kaepernick, the current focus on athletes as activists is the NFL, and we must ask how this monstrosity has become the focal point of moral urgency and debate.
The NFL coddles violence in its playing as well as violence outside the lines by the players who are deemed essential. The NFL coddles and embraces a white ownership and white elite players who are directly partisan in their politics, but christens black activism as too political.
~~~~~~~~~~
Where we need change the most and where that change has the best chance of making a difference is among whites who consider themselves good people, much like the few white NFL players standing in solidarity with black players.
Whites must consider the following before resisting black resistance:
(Please follow the link to access the list) - Faye
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/resistance-in-black-and-white-on-white-proximity-and_us_599acf78e4b02eb2fda32181?section=us_contributor
Progressive, White Athletes Must Learn How To Stand In Solidarity
White athletes entering the conversation on race have tremendous responsibility and little time to learn, but their competency is crucial.
By P.L. Thomas, Contributor
P.L. Thomas , professor of education (Furman University, Greenville, SC), is author of Beware the Roadbuilders and Trumplandia (Garn Press).
The uncomfortable history of professional athletes being activists is often whitewashed itself, in part through the sort of revisionism that conservatives seem to reject. Think of how Muhammad Ali was mistreated while the greatest athlete on the planet in the 1960s, and then how he was praised in the decline of his life.
Because of ostracized Colin Kaepernick, the current focus on athletes as activists is the NFL, and we must ask how this monstrosity has become the focal point of moral urgency and debate.
The NFL coddles violence in its playing as well as violence outside the lines by the players who are deemed essential. The NFL coddles and embraces a white ownership and white elite players who are directly partisan in their politics, but christens black activism as too political.
~~~~~~~~~~
Where we need change the most and where that change has the best chance of making a difference is among whites who consider themselves good people, much like the few white NFL players standing in solidarity with black players.
Whites must consider the following before resisting black resistance:
(Please follow the link to access the list) - Faye
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/resistance-in-black-and-white-on-white-proximity-and_us_599acf78e4b02eb2fda32181?section=us_contributor
Blistering!
An excerpt from the LA Times Editorial Board -
Enough is Enough
These are not normal times.
The man in the White House is reckless and unmanageable, a danger to the Constitution, a threat to our democratic institutions.
Last week some of his worst qualities were on display: his moral vacuity and his disregard for the truth, as well as his stubborn resistance to sensible advice. As ever, he lashed out at imaginary enemies and scapegoated others for his own failings. Most important, his reluctance to offer a simple and decisive condemnation of racism and Nazism astounded and appalled observers around the world.
Support our journalism
Become a subscriber today to support editorial writing like this. Start getting full access to our signature journalism for just 99 cents for the first four weeks.
With such a glaring failure of moral leadership at the top, it is desperately important that others stand up and speak out to defend American principles and values. This is no time for neutrality, equivocation or silence. Leaders across America — and especially those in the president’s own party — must summon their reserves of political courage to challenge President Trump publicly, loudly and unambiguously.
Enough is enough.
http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-ed-trump-enough/#nws=mcnewsletter
Enough is Enough
These are not normal times.
The man in the White House is reckless and unmanageable, a danger to the Constitution, a threat to our democratic institutions.
Last week some of his worst qualities were on display: his moral vacuity and his disregard for the truth, as well as his stubborn resistance to sensible advice. As ever, he lashed out at imaginary enemies and scapegoated others for his own failings. Most important, his reluctance to offer a simple and decisive condemnation of racism and Nazism astounded and appalled observers around the world.
Support our journalism
Become a subscriber today to support editorial writing like this. Start getting full access to our signature journalism for just 99 cents for the first four weeks.
With such a glaring failure of moral leadership at the top, it is desperately important that others stand up and speak out to defend American principles and values. This is no time for neutrality, equivocation or silence. Leaders across America — and especially those in the president’s own party — must summon their reserves of political courage to challenge President Trump publicly, loudly and unambiguously.
Enough is enough.
http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-ed-trump-enough/#nws=mcnewsletter
Great Protest Signs
From the Huffington Post -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/boston-free-speech-rally-sign-photos_us_5998666ae4b0a2608a6ca765
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/boston-free-speech-rally-sign-photos_us_5998666ae4b0a2608a6ca765
Promoting Change
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2017/08/20/nfls-bennett-brothers-show-two-sides-of-activism-for-martellus-bennett-thats-political-cartooning/?utm_term=.724f6b82b693
Sunday, August 20, 2017
This Judge Speaks From Experience
An excerpt from the Guardian -
'He's trying to save lives': the ex-addict judge on the frontline of the opiate crisis
Everyone in Judge Craig Hannah’s opiate-specific court is offered a deal: complete addiction treatment and the charges against them may be reduced
By Edward Helmore
“You have to want to get help, and you have to want to help yourself,” counsels Judge Craig Hannah from his bench in Buffalo city court 11. “You can’t just keep running away from the treatment bus.”
Hannah, a pioneering jurist who oversees the nation’s first Opiate Crisis Intervention Court in northern New York, is speaking to a man who has flunked out of rehab a second time. A bed in a third facility may not be so easy to find. The addict – a “participant” in the parlance of the court – looks doubtful, and Hannah continues his pitch: “If you get on the bus, I’m going to take off my robe and come down there and shake you by the hand.
“But I also need you to hold yourself accountable,” adds Hannah, who has his own firsthand experience of drugs from earlier in his life.
Everyone who comes through the court is essentially offered a deal: complete addiction treatment, and prosecutors may look favorably at reducing the charges against them.
~~~~~~~~~~
Smith found a judge in Hannah, who knows what he’s dealing with. He is, he says, a grateful recovering addict 17 years clean from a dependence on marijuana and cocaine. It takes one to know one, and Hannah’s underlying message to participants in opiate court is of identification: “I tell them the only difference between them and me is time.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/20/opioid-crisis-america-buffalo-new-york-trump-national-emergency
'He's trying to save lives': the ex-addict judge on the frontline of the opiate crisis
Everyone in Judge Craig Hannah’s opiate-specific court is offered a deal: complete addiction treatment and the charges against them may be reduced
By Edward Helmore
“You have to want to get help, and you have to want to help yourself,” counsels Judge Craig Hannah from his bench in Buffalo city court 11. “You can’t just keep running away from the treatment bus.”
Hannah, a pioneering jurist who oversees the nation’s first Opiate Crisis Intervention Court in northern New York, is speaking to a man who has flunked out of rehab a second time. A bed in a third facility may not be so easy to find. The addict – a “participant” in the parlance of the court – looks doubtful, and Hannah continues his pitch: “If you get on the bus, I’m going to take off my robe and come down there and shake you by the hand.
“But I also need you to hold yourself accountable,” adds Hannah, who has his own firsthand experience of drugs from earlier in his life.
Everyone who comes through the court is essentially offered a deal: complete addiction treatment, and prosecutors may look favorably at reducing the charges against them.
~~~~~~~~~~
Smith found a judge in Hannah, who knows what he’s dealing with. He is, he says, a grateful recovering addict 17 years clean from a dependence on marijuana and cocaine. It takes one to know one, and Hannah’s underlying message to participants in opiate court is of identification: “I tell them the only difference between them and me is time.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/20/opioid-crisis-america-buffalo-new-york-trump-national-emergency
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