Hey kos, Change My F'n Screen Name

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Monday November 14, 2016 · 8:00 PM PST

2016/11/14 · 20:00

I would hereby like to petition kos for a change in my screen name, or at least permission to form a new account.

I no longer wish to pretend to be someone or something else as I discuss Democratic politics.

I would like to be known going forward by my name.

John Webb

White Nationalists Rejoice at Trump's Appointment of Bannon -- Southern Policy Law Center ...

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Monday November 14, 2016 · 4:40 PM PST

2016/11/14 · 16:40

Stephen K. Bannon, far left, with Donald J. Trump at a meeting of Republicans in New York City on Thursday.

Call your Senator

Call your Representative

Then come back to DK. I spent two hours on the phone with Washington today, with mixed results. Apparently Washington offices are being flooded with calls. The only two offices I was able to reach were Representative Barbara Lee’ Oakland office, my district, and Representative Keith Ellison’s Minneapolis office. Only Senator Bernie Sanders had room in his mailbox to leave a message.

Mitch McConnell doesn’t have a way to leave a voicemail message. The mailbox for Paul Ryan is full.

And now, a look at some seriously scary ~~Alt Right~~, Neo Fascist, bullshit happening in our nation right now.

An International Movement That is More Than Memes https://t.co/zD15ZdRjSG
Ã¢ÂÂ Richard Ã°ÂÂÂ¸ Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) November 14, 2016

Let that one sit with you for a while.

Do not let any Republican tell you that this election was about anything other than racism, sexism, and homo and trans phobia. Whether or not anyone wants to talk about it, the alt right is taking credit for President Trump. They can’t wait to live in TrumpLandia™. It is the world they have been working towards creating.

And they think they have won!

Which leads me to this, from the SPLC. White Nationalists Rejoice at Trump's Appointment of Breitbart's Stephen Bannon. I will give just enough to induce you to read the article.

The move to appoint Bannon to such an important role goes directly against Trump’s pledge to be a president to “all Americans.” Bannon has a long history of bigotry.

He has insinuated that African-Americans are “naturally aggressive and violent” and under his leadership, Breitbart’s publishing strategy turned to one that has made it the media arm of the racist Alternative-Right movement, publishing articles promoting popular white nationalist tropes such as “black on white crime” and that "rape culture" is inherent in Islam.

Some of the key players in the Alt-Right movement, along with other well-established platforms for white nationalists have rejoiced in Trump’s appointment of Bannon to a key role.

Any questions?

There is this piece from The Daily Beast. How Pepe the Frog Became a Nazi Trump Supporter and Alt-Right Symbol. Again, just enough to induce further reading.

“We basically mixed Pepe in with Nazi propaganda, etc. We built that association,” @JaredTSwift said.

Who is @JaredTSwift?

@JaredTSwift is an anonymous white nationalist who claims to be 19 years old and in school someplace on the West Coast. He told me there is “an actual campaign to reclaim Pepe from normies.”

Finally, from knowyourmeme. Pepe the Frog

YouTube Video

I need to make absolutely sure that I tell you that the creator of Pepe the Frog, Matt Furie, has denounced the ~~alt-right~~, Neo Fascist, turn that his character has been subjected to.

Artist’s Response

On September 29th, 2016, Matt Furie expressed his disappointment with the alt-right’s use of the meme, along with the Anti-Defamation League’s citation, in an interview with CBC Radio^[40], during which he said that he was the character’s creator but did not specify that he had no part in making “this weird racist version of it.”

On October 7th, 2016, Fantagraphics, the publisher of Matt Furie’s comic book collection Boy’s Club, issued a statement^[39] on behalf of Matt Furie in which they refuted Pepe’s association with the alt-right, while criticizing Donald Trump and his alt-right supporters for “myriad copyright violations” of the artist’s character.
Fantagraphics Books wants to state for the record that the one, true Pepe the frog, as created by the human being and artist Matt Furie, is a peaceful cartoon amphibian who represents love, acceptance, and fun. (And getting stoned.) Both creator and creation reject the nihilism fueling Pepe’s alt-right appropriators, and all of us at Fantagraphics encourage you to help us reclaim Pepe as a symbol of positivity and togetherness.^[39]
On October 14th, the Anti-Defamation League^[42] announced that it would join forces with Matt Furie on the #SavePepe hashtag campaign in an effort to reclaim Pepe the Frog from racists by creating and sharing positive images of the frog.

Am I giving this meme any credibility by sharing it here? Yes. I want people to talk about Trump’s Neo Fascist support until he denounces it in a meaningful way. That starts with sending Bannon and his ilk packing in a very public fashion.

I’m not expecting that anytime soon.

So I Have this Staffordshire Terrier, and That's the Problem

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Sunday November 13, 2016 · 4:34 PM PST

2016/11/13 · 16:34

I look at her and this is what I see because this is who she is. She is sweet and joyful and loving and caring. But to people who don’t know her, she is a Pit Bull that cause some real harm if she chose to. And it gets even more complicated when you factor in that she is seven months old and wants to cuddle with absolutely everyone.

I have spent a bit of time looking at the world differently because of this puppy. I have to monitor our surroundings constantly to make sure that we pose as little threat to others as possible. I know what it looks like when a Staffordshire is wandering off leash. We can only play about half of the times we go to the park because either small children or small dogs are present.

So, what does this have to do with anything, you ask. Yup, I’m going to bring race back into the conversation.

Many white Americans, liberal as well as conservative, have never had to monitor their surroundings because of how they look. There is no time spent analyzing a room for threats or allies because of, well, whiteness. It is a really protective bubble.

But some of us are starting to understand that we have different presentations to the world than all the joy and love and care we feel. It is hard for someone who has always been encouraged to speak up to be able to truly listen. Especially when the subject of White People comes up.

The last week has been an amazing experience for me. My friends and family of all colors, abilities, genders, etc. etc. etc. have been kind enough to let me process this horrible week through their existences. And it has been hard.

There is a little bit of politeness dancing still being done between people in different groups. We all want to scream and tear our hair out. We are all raw and we are all afraid. But I have the least to lose in TrumpLandia™. I have to work very hard to hear “White People” and not immediately get into defense mode or into “but some of us really are down for the cause” territory.

Think about adding yet another horrible layer of Trumpish dystopia to your past week. Then take away even more of your safety. This has been a REALLY bad week for people in our coalition, in our lives and in our families. Try taking a minute to listen to each other out here in cyberspace and in the real world. Listening without waiting to respond not listening for the next opportunity to make your point.

At the end of the day, this Trump versus the American people thing cuts across every demographic marker. We all know ourselves to be the sweet Staffordshire Terrier. Please remember that a lot of people see us as the Pit Bull right now, no matter who we are inside.

Memes Here. Get Your Memes Here!

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Sunday November 13, 2016 · 11:13 AM PST

2016/11/13 · 11:13

I’m surely not the first to mention ABC This Week today. It was amazing television, which is not in this case a compliment. Rudy looked even more unhinged, if that is possible. Keith Ellison showed us why he should be the next DNC chair. And then …

Fireworks erupt on the Round Table ...

So, of course I can’t emebed the video here. ABC must get its clicks. In this case though, the trip across the digital divide is worth it. Mary Matalin decided that she could spar with Van Jones and get him to walk back the white lash comments. Go check it out. It was awesomely good fun.

But I did get a screen capture and came up with a few fresh memes for you, my DK family.

And a big ol batch of transcript …

That moment you realize you just tried to test Van Jones

MATALIN: The -- but not -- it's not -- he's going to start with the regulatory ones, because he wants to grow the economy.

The problem with Keith Ellison's message and what you all are saying -- and I -- and I respect what you're saying because we have been there -- is -- and another irony of this campaign -- is that Barack Obama always won astronomically on his own, but he has completely devastated the party. He's lost the Senate, the House, 30 governorships, over 900 legislatures...

(CROSSTALK)

JONES: That's why we need Keith Ellison...

(CROSSTALK)

JONES: That's why we need...

(CROSSTALK)

JONES: What you just said is the best case for Keith Ellison. Keith Ellison is an organizer's organizer.

MATALIN: That's right.

JONES: He -- he's one of the only Muslims in Congress, so you have a big statement there.

MATALIN: What's his message?

That moment you realize that you own this now ...

He's going to take care of...

(CROSSTALK) VANDEN HEUVEL: His message is...

JONES: Voters over donors.

VANDEN HEUVEL: -- his message is...

JONES: Voters over donors.

VANDEN HEUVEL: Vote -- his message is voters over donors, it's going to the grassroots, it's connecting the movement of our time to what's going on in cities, states and inside the beltway.

The movements are where the energy are…

…………..

STEPHANOPOULOS: Yeah, we're just about out of time. Van, you said the whitelash...

JONES: I said and stand by it. I said that race was a part, and there was a part, that alt-right part, that was a part of the whitelash. And if you listened to the whole quote, you would agree with what I said.

MATALIN: I did listen and again you said what do I tell the kids? What I would tell your kids, I'm a black man in America who went to Yale, who has written books, who served a president and now...

JONES: And ninth generation American, ma'am, and I'm the first one in my family born with all my rights. I'm a ninth generation American. And so we have not escaped because I went to Yale all the problems of this country.

MATALIN: So, you should be a racial polemicist. You should be a racial reconciler.

JONES: You should be ashamed of your self to say that to my face. I have spent more time in this country...

MATALIN: Say it behind your back would be better?

JONES: Hold on a second, I spent more time than you have trying to be a racial reconciler.

MATALIN: Really? How do you know that? Do you anything about me? Do you know anything about me?

JONES: Apparently you don't know anything about me.

MATALIN: Yes, I do know your daddy, your grandparents were teachers. Your grandfather was a bishop.

JONES: George, this is a problem that we have right now. It is in fact the case there was a populist revolt in this country both Sanders and Trump, but one of them was marbled through with this alt-right stuff. If someone like myself, who is married to a white woman, who has spent my entire life building bridges, can't point out the alt-right whitelash reaction without being accused of being a racial polemicist, we're going to have a big problem.

(CROSSTALK)

VANDEN HEUVEL: Have you no sense of decency to say that to a man who has been a healer throughout horrific brutal campaign, he has spoken sanity to power. And to those who...

MATALIN: OK, my deepest apologies. You don't know anything about me. You don't know anything about my healing and I would say there are ways to get to reconciliation different from calling -- focusing on the toxic elements as you did...

JONES: You have to talk about both.

Wrestling With My Whiteness Post Trump

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Sunday November 13, 2016 · 3:31 AM PST

2016/11/13 · 03:31

There has been a lot of handwringing from some quarters in the past few days now that the nation has decided to drive the car off the rails. Too many of our communities are now threatened by the Trump white-lash. Who did this? Who let this happen?

White America is what happened. Call it a Primal Scream. Call it a last gasp of majority and privilege. Call it what it is. It is a victory for the powers of fear and intolerance in the US. Whose fears and intolerance? White America's. That’s who.

The data don’t lie. White Americans of all stripes got together and decided this election. DJT called together an unholy coalition of hate mongers and fear inciters to win this election. I, for one, am disgusted without being shocked. I watched his rallies and know exactly who was there. I grew up with people just like them.

But I am still left dealing with my Whiteness. Maybe this is part of the grieving process, a step on the road to acceptance. But I am still left dealing with my Whiteness. I have to answer for this because I am white. I’m the guy in my circle who has to own up to the privilege and “explain” White people to everyone else. But I am still dealing with my whiteness.

YouTube Video

The First Lesson: We’re all gonna have to take a bite

Welcome to Donald Trump’s USA. I have even found my white male self afraid of groups of young white men in uber liberal Berkeley, CA. That’s the US we live in now. Groups of white kids scaring us because of what they might do. Welcome to TrumpLandia™, its FearTastic®.

But that’s the thing, minorities have been dealing with this phenomenon forever. It’s not even a phenomenon to them. It’s just life. I knew this before the election. But I felt it viscerally for the first time. My stomach has been clenched for five days now. My jaws are taut. I slept about 10 of the first 48 hours after John Podesta sent everyone home from the Javits Center Tuesday night.

So, step up to the plate white liberals. We’re gonna have to take a bite. The white folks own this one fair and square.

Don’t be afraid. Do it honestly and proudly.

And then help us hold the Republican party’s feet to the fire of the Trump Administration. Trump is bringing in every hack we thought we had defeated for the past twenty years. He is Dubya without the personality and penchant for introspection. They own Washington now. Don’t let anyone ever doubt that or try to blame libruls for anything but providing loyal opposition from a minority party.

The Second Lesson: Don’t (unknowingly) perpetuate the system

No matter how woke you are, there are going to be things that get misunderstood.

We are White Americans. That’s our lens. Our frame. Be conscious of microaggressions and whitesplaining. White men, start reading up on Womanist Theology and learn the word iintersectionality. Then start practicing what you learn.

We can’t make any of this about us. To use White Privilege correctly is make yourself be seen next to the things you want to stop. Shout “Fire” in the burning building of our republic. Be loud when you have to draw attention. Because drawing attention is our number one job y’all.

Model civility and respect to your fellow white people. Show them how its done.

The Third Lesson: Safety pins aren’t enough

That’s right. We need to do more. We need to live our principles out loud. That said, if you’re wearing a safety pin because you want to help, you should read this. It is a simple guide to what you need to be ready to do.

Some have claimed that the Safety Pin concept is embarrassing white liberals. And by some, I mean Christopher Keelty over at HuffPo mostly but I have seen the sentiment echoed by people who the effort is aimed to help. It is a tricky situation to navigate yet navigate it we must.

Don’t insert yourself where you are not wanted. You are not Captain America. Not every situation requires your participation. Become okay with that. Respect the spaces you are invited into. Invite others into your space in a spirit of humanity and kindness.

The Fourth Lesson: Moving forward

Don’t just be angry, get organized. it is the only road forward.

Start with How To Coach Confidence In People Who Are Feeling Defeated

And then …

YouTube Video

Towards a Brighter Future

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Saturday November 12, 2016 · 4:06 PM PST

2016/11/12 · 16:06

TITLE: [Martin Luther King and Malcolm X waiting for press conference]..CALL NUMBER: USN&WR COLL - Job no. 11695, frame 27 <item> [P&P]..REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZ6-1847 (b&w film copy neg.).No known retrictions on publication...MEDIUM: 1 photographic print...CREATED/PUBLISHED: [1964 March 26]..CREATOR:..Trikosko, Marion S., photographer...NOTES:..U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection...SUBJECTS:..King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968--Public appearances..X, Malcolm, 1925-1965--Public appearances...FORMAT:..Photographic prints 1960-1970...REPOSITORY: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA..DIGITAL ID: (b&w film copy neg.) cph 3d01847 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3d01847..CARD #: 92522562 — Martin Luther King and Malcolm X

First, listen to this as you read. It helps with the pain.

YouTube Video

So we took one in the teeth on Tuesday. The Democratic party is as far out of power as one can be in Washington. The state houses don’t look good either. Oh, and the fact that the majority of the Senate seats Dems have to defend are in states Trump carried. We are done. We are through. Socialism has been repudiated and we should all just go away.

Okay, with that out of the way, I can now start moving on. I get it. I’m a white cis hetero male in America. I’ll probably be fine under our new Orange Overlord. But that’s why its on me and others like me to start using our privilege to create the spaces for the movement to rebuild itself. The safe spaces that seem to scare Trump voters so much.

Good, smart people are talking in rooms and online as we speak. Good, smart journalists and columnists have written thought provoking pieces trying to identify the Trump voter. The Atlantic has released a few stories from Trump voters. The comment section is full of people saying some really nasty things about people in our coalition. The ugliness is frightening.

But that is a good thing. The ugliness no longer lies just below the surface, unseen by the privileged. The ugliness is out there for all to see. I don’t care about specific Trump voters but I do care about understanding how they voted. I don’t need them to like me. I just need to know how to talk to them. The answer is conversations with Red America. Not acquiescence but conversation.

There is no doubt anymore about whether or not the US is a regular nation with huge swaths of racial resentment and sexist power dynamics. This fact has been laid bare for all the nation to see. The trick will be rebuilding the coalition that holds us together as a nation. That means Red and Blue talking to each other.

Of course the current batch of Republicans in Washington are not who we should be having these conversations with. You know, get outside of the echo chamber. Maybe not every Republican is a horrible person. Maybe some independents would show up to vote for a person that expressed an interest in Red America beyond lip service. This of course should start with a strong economic plan to talk about in the first place.

The thing about talking about conversation with Red America right now is that it is too early for most of us. I get that. Feel and process your grief and pain fully. It hurts. But it lights a fire that will fuel the resurgence of the Progressive coalition.

Cleaned out my FB feed. What comes next?

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Thursday November 10, 2016 · 6:24 PM PST

2016/11/10 · 18:24

I did more than clean it up. I blew the damn thing up and started over. I don’t need to make my last four months any worse by delving into Trump supporters among my “friends”, many of them people I have known most of my life. Maybe I got caught up in the “Burn It Down” sentiment that seems to have powered this election. Maybe. I don’t really care.

I have seen close friends lose actual family members for voting Trump. I have seen close Queer friends react to family members who are gloating over a Trump win. I have heard more than one voice who is afraid for their safety after some of the incidents people like Shaun King have been sharing. It is not some “them”. It is “us”.

I will save the apportioning of blame for electoral defeat for another post. Suffice it to say that I have a lot of axes to grind.

Tonight, I just want to grieve. Then I will return to anger which I will funnel into efforts to move the debate back to the issues I care about.

Heartbroken, predictable or not.

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Wednesday November 09, 2016 · 4:06 AM PST

2016/11/09 · 04:06

So, THAT happened.

I am stunned. I am crushed. I am heartsick.

I spent some formative years in West Virginia in the 1980s. (Ah, those halcyon days) My time there and some lingering FB friends have given me some insight into what is going on in all those places that rallied for and, eventually, elected Trump.

I used to ask anyone I met from North Carolina how they could explain Jesse Helms. To a person I was told that people come from seemingly nowhere on election day to keep him in the Senate. That is how I feel today. I understand but I can’t explain this. I don’t have the words to describe what has been laid bare to the world about the American Experiment.

Exceptionalism has certainly been finally laid to rest today. It never existed in the first place unless you had money and white skin but that’s beside the point. Time of Death = 11/8/2016. The US will no longer be allowed to pretend that it is acting in any moral or altruistic way.

The Culture Wars ended today and the long line of GOP regressives has won again. Nixon, Reagan, W, Trump. You don’t have to work hard to draw a direct line.

In other news, Standing Rock is still happening. Just in case you forgot.

There is a huge fight to exercise any sovereignty by our First Nations.

This is a huge fight for our environment.

This is a huge fight against corporate profits over the interests of the people and the environment.

This is still happening.

It never stopped.

But hey, you can choose to stick around or not. You can choose to work towards your goals however you choose.

I will be here. Hoping. Trying. Writing. Fighting.

Each1Teach1: A Call for Community Signal Boost and Conversation around Cannabis

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Monday October 17, 2016 · 7:12 PM PDT

2016/10/17 · 19:12

I just wrote this email. I wanted to share it for signal boost. As you were

The pitch is this:

We've been selling this plant for decades and doing real time. Very soon cannabis will be a $50 Billion industry.

I want the hip hop world to embrace its culture and make that legit money, go to college, find a life for itself.

The prisons are full of us. Good people are working hard to get them out. When they get out, I want to equip them with tools to compete with and dominate this industry. Which is OUR LIFE and struggle.

I'm working to form a philanthropic coalition to reach out and educate. Each one teach one.

People are working on curricula targeting high schoolers. I have reached out to hip hop for change in the East Bay to find our way into the community. I have Ivy League network plus my people from around the way. I want them to meet and learn from each other.

What I need from you is credibility. I'm working with Black in Cannabis to bring that but I could also use more.

One shout out from Redman or Talib Kweli or Yassin Bey could help this grow like a weed and take back the culture.

Think FUBU for teaching legal weed dealing skills. Eventually we can move each other into EVERY part of the culture AND represent it the way you do.

All I have right now is a hashtag:

#Each1Teach1

Trump Spokesperson Acknowledges Campaign Missteps: Confusion About the "Nuclear Option" and Russia

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Sunday August 07, 2016 · 3:56 PM PDT

2016/08/07 · 15:56

In a rare move for the Trump campaign, a spokesperson has admitted a key misstep that has led to “a few bad news cycles”. There is no word yet on when Meredith McIver will take the blame or if the campaign will lay it at the feet of Corey Lewandowski.

First Mistake: “Nuclear Option” Headlines Confused the Candidate

This is the explanation being given for the story “broken” by Morning Joe “Trump asks why US can't use nukes”. Apparently, two news articles had become incorrectly clipped with the wrong titles. This led to some “confusion” in the campaign.

The article that was supposed to be flagged for reading was How grieving mothers became the nuclear option of campaign politics at The Washington Post.

The article that ended up getting attached to that headline was IOC president hits out at Wada’s ‘nuclear option’ over Russia’s Rio Olympians at The Guardian. Sources say the mixup resulted from a request for “Russian, President, Nuclear stuff” by the candidate.

YouTube Video

According to the source:

“Mr Trump has a great relationship with many world leaders and is, of course, a big fan of Team USA at this summer’s Olympic Games. IOC President Bach and Mr Trump have golfed together many times and Mr Trump is steadfast in his opposition to Performance Enhancing Substances. When they were recently discussing the Russian doping scandal, Bach began discussing the “nuclear option” of banning all Russian athletes. This was the nuclear option that Mr Trump was asking his briefers about in the reported story.”

Second Mistake: Trump Misunderstood the Meaning of “Political Capitol”, Thought it Was Money

This one is uncorroborated so far but a source familiar with the Trump family has cast doubt on the candidate’s understanding of his own reasons for running for President.

YouTube Video

Admitting that there “has been some confusion on the plane”, the source revealed today that Donald Trump watched a George W Bush press conference in 2004 and thought that “political capitol” was the same as “capitol wealth”. Rumors that Trump also thought he would make money by being in the “Capital City” and be in charge of lost letter delivery when he bought the Old Post Office Building in DC have also been floated.

YouTube Video

Welcome New Users: "Don't crush me bro!", a spam history and New Users Lounge. Ask away!

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Sunday August 07, 2016 · 1:32 PM PDT

2016/08/07 · 13:32

Welcome to new and old users alike. Our group is here to help you orient yourself to the site and answer your questions about how to use it. When you join us below the orange gnocchi-doodle you'll find a funny story about spam. Below that you'll find links to a whole Welcome New Users trove of teaching diaries. After that you can ask us any questions about the site you want. If I don't know the answers someone smarter is bound to be along who does, or I'll go find 'em and bring 'em to ya. AND-- if you're new and wondering what is and isn't OK around here, read Kos' Community Guidelines. That'll keep you out of trouble!

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Sunday August 07, 2016 · 1:52 AM PDT

2016/08/07 · 01:52

The world is a big place. While the US Presidential election is a big deal, there are other things going on. I thought I would round up some things I found interesting over the last few days.

Looking Forward/Looking Back

Presidents and the Past

Graham Allison and Niall Ferguson wrote Why the President Needs a Council of Historians. It isn’t enough for a commander in chief to invite friendly academics to dinner. The U.S. could avoid future disaster if policy makers started looking more to the past in The Atlantic. They discuss a new spin on an old subject, Applied History, that looks for analogues to current events in the past.

We urge the next president to establish a White House Council of Historical Advisers. Historians made similar recommendations to Presidents Carter and Reagan during their administrations, but nothing ever came of these proposals. Operationally, the Council of Historical Advisers would mirror the Council of Economic Advisers, established after World War II.

Of course, the idea isn’t new. See Thucydides and Churchill.

ENERGY (IN)DEPENDENCE

Read Running on Empty. Was the failure to solve the US energy crisis of the 1970s a product of bad government policy, or of voters demanding that their government do the impossible? at The Nation.

It is a great discussion of/ conversation with the book Panic at the Pump authored by political economist Meg Jacobs.

This Week in Transgender Issues

In case you missed it, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily stayed a Fourth Circuit ruling on gender identity and Title IX Wednesday.

“In a rare break from its summer recess, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocked a federal appeals court ruling Wednesday that allowed a transgender boy in Virginia to use the boy’s bathroom at his local public high school.”

Also, 2 Months, No Food: The Story of a Transgender Inmate's Hunger Strike

“San Francisco County doesn't house prisoners according to their gender identity. Instead, trans inmates are currently held together in a segregated area of a men's facility, at least until the county decides how to handle their housing in the long term. Before going on hunger strike, Cadence said she had been mocked by inmates, deputies, and other staff for being transgender. She filed multiple grievance forms to express her frustration. But she says they did little to make the harassment stop.”

THE OLYMPICS ™®

Bad news for Brazilian tax payers.

Good Twitter news for Leslie Jones.

Gold medal news for WVU Rifle Team and the US Olympic Team™®.

Negative opinion, meh opinion about tape delays. And an interesting response from NBC.

“The people who watch the Olympics are not particularly sports fans. More women watch the games than men, and for the women, they're less interested in the result and more interested in the journey. It's sort of like the ultimate reality show and miniseries wrapped into one.”

Good news for Team Refugee, minus the "refugee-washing" (?) of the IOC™®.

Read it again: “These refugees have no home, no team, no flag, no national anthem. We will offer them a home in the Olympic Village.” A temporary home is offered for 10 people, while hundreds of families are displaced from their actual homes.

Also, This Week in Culture

Good news for “being who you are”.

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