So our minority-elected president has decided to try to distract and unite Americans by bombing like Bush did on March 19, 2003, with shock and awe (why over 50 missiles?) while nobody waited for the facts on the ground. President tweet becomes President booom (in his own deranged mind). The tragedy is that so many military insiders must've presented this option to him as a realistic alternative. When the leader lacks wisdom, doom to us all!
Why is there nothing in the news about the dailykos report about Seth Abramson's conjecture that Trump and associates were just doing a money deal and happened to win the presidency?
I have been contemplating Brooks and others who accuse people like Prof. Cole of being "elites" as opposed to the "real Americans" (whoever that is). Your comments about Miller's youth seem to me to smack of such elitism. His age and looks should be off the page, and more attention paid just to his (abhorrent) messages. Do you want to start a war between generations? I, for one, greet young resisters I have met in the past month with deep joy. They may not have seen it all yet, but they see with their hearts. Miller is not such a person, but we put the resistance at risk when we make discriminatory comments about his youth. Prof. Cole, this is the first time you have disappointed me (in over a decade). So I hope you hear and take the criticism to heart, and continue with your magnificent work!
But in France children are not allowed to sing Christmas Carols in school because they are Christian-based. France is trying hard to keep religious education separate from public schooling. Unfortunately, this is not appreciated by fundamentalists of any type, who, as you say, perceive public space should belong to them and their creed. But even this fairly non-sectarian Unitarian-Universalists feels sad when the Christmas Carols have to be left out at my daughter's French-run school in San Francisco.
What will this rabble do when HRC wins and becomes President? are they not all gun owners? I suspect it will be a violent, scary time, even more difficult than with Obama-'hating tea-partiers.
A trivial comment, but I counted only 5 charts and graphs, not 6?!? But I sure hope the mainstream press highlights more of these lies! SEe New Yorker article about Trump's ghostwriter this week--excellent deflation of his life of lies.
At some level I wonder whether attacking GLBT/Hispanic community serves to further divide our country (those who are shocked and sympathetic from those who say "you got what you deserved") in a strange parallel to strategic attacks on Shiites to further divide Iraq ("divide and conquer"). So wouldn't attacking this Latino-dominant gay bar set up more infighting that further weakens our country. I think that is exactly why President Obama called for us to unite and stand firm together against such carnage. Wouldn't that strategic goal, of pitting us against one another (brilliantly, given the preponderance of gun-toting people all too ready to shoot up one another) then come under the category of terrorism? Make the holier-than-thou homophobes fight harder against supporters of equal rights for GLBT community, even to the point of violent confrontations?
My most recent MS magazine has an article by Mona Eltahawy in which she says DAESH is an anagram considered derogatory by the group itself because "in Arabic it contains a pun meaning, approximately, 'crush these bastards underfoot' --which is precisely why those of us in the Middle East who despise the group use it." Dr. Cole, can you comment on this?
I'm surprised that either Bush or Cheney have the gall to show their faces in public. Destabilizing a whole region has left any intact country there struggling with the burden of refugee thousands while now Europe itself is facing a refugee invasion dwarfing the movement of peoples after WWII.
I sure would like to hear more on the PTT from Professor Cole and other writers! I do fear it will spell the end to all local, State, and national authority over environmental standards.
The emergency manager law was revised by Republican-dominated Michigan in 2010-11 to become more draconian than ever before (for example charging the entity to be managed, whether a city or school district, the 6-figure salary to be earned by the EM--debt piled upon debt!). The people of Michigan petitioned to put it on the ballot and threw it out summarily in 2012. Then the legislature re-introduced it, added an appropriation so that it could no longer be resisted by petitioned referendum, and then inflicted it upon Flint. So it is anti-democratic in a number of ways--going against the vote of the people of Michigan. And our Attorney General Bill Schuette claims that he took the same-sex marriage case to the Supreme Court because he did not want lower courts to deny the vote of Michiganders a decade ago against same-sex marriage! But did he challenge the new Emergency Manager law that also directly defied the will of the voters, within a few months of their vote? Nope.
boomer Bob: One key to the Flint fiasco is the nature of Michigan's Dept. of Env. Quality. They seem to operate for natural resource exploitation rather than to protect the health of the people and environment they live in. As evidence I offer you my experience of the "open" meeting the DEQ held in my area about fracking, an auditorium at a Community College with 6 police standing around the presenters, no one in the audience allowed to hold a sign or speak, only to write questions on cards. The DEQ did not want public comment but obedience instilled by fear. These are the people who (having drunk the cool-aid mantra that has turned "regulation" into a dirty word) lied saying that they had provided corrosion control in Flint when they actually had neglected that step out of ignorance or avarice. Perhaps this helps you understand better what happened in Flint.
Prof. Cole, appreciated the 1940's history of the term Political Correctness, but I remembered first hearing it around the time George Bush(father) came back from being Ambassador to China. It seemed to me to be a way of attacking colleges and universities for trying to set some standards about hate speech on campus. Weakening the intellectual base of this country has been seen as a way to strengthen conservative voices, and to me his use of the term brought echoes of China (and Taiwan, sharing similar history and cultural heritage) trying to make sure to keep under control the revolutionary spirit of colleges and college students. Thus the accusation of PC became a useful tool in the American culture wars against the intellectual class.
The earthquake in Nepal and the many small ones in Oklahoma since fracking has spread there make me wonder: Michigan plans to sequester the polluted water remaining after fracking BELOW the water table, deep down. What happens when earthquakes bring that back to the surface? Not a greenhouse gas danger, but nevertheless one we are rushing into blindly!
I just wrote a comment about "The power of nightmares" see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Nightmares
This three-part documentary shows how fear works all too well to manipulate publics whether Western or Middle Eastern; it was used during the Cold War, with Russia as the boogie-man. It was used after 9/11 to twist our country into a vengeful irrational mood that allowed just enough public belief in the Bush-Cheney administration's lies that we threw our riches into invading the wrong country and undercut diplomacy and democracy in the world. Fear is powerful. ISIS is using it most effectively to appear more powerful than they are. And yet...beheading 21 at once, Coptic Christians from Egypt...makes us deeply fearful and helplessly depressed.
I see this as a canny strategy to suck one more country into further chaos, which only benefits the gangsters. And yet I cannot accept the dispassionate tone, the reassuring approach of this piece, Dr. Cole. I am afraid of them even if they are just opportunistic gangsters.
The perpetrator 1) was against all religion; 2) had a gun. The gun lobby in the U.S. should recognize the danger of excessively lax gun laws and speak out about this case. The Christians and Jews in this country should also condemn anyone who shoots on account of (any) religion. This can be a time for our country to come together.
No mention is made here of the Christian Fundamentalists who believe fomenting war in the Middle East will help bring about the End Times. How significant a factor are they in the Republican Party?
So our minority-elected president has decided to try to distract and unite Americans by bombing like Bush did on March 19, 2003, with shock and awe (why over 50 missiles?) while nobody waited for the facts on the ground. President tweet becomes President booom (in his own deranged mind). The tragedy is that so many military insiders must've presented this option to him as a realistic alternative. When the leader lacks wisdom, doom to us all!
Why is there nothing in the news about the dailykos report about Seth Abramson's conjecture that Trump and associates were just doing a money deal and happened to win the presidency?
Sounds pretty close to ISIS!
I have been contemplating Brooks and others who accuse people like Prof. Cole of being "elites" as opposed to the "real Americans" (whoever that is). Your comments about Miller's youth seem to me to smack of such elitism. His age and looks should be off the page, and more attention paid just to his (abhorrent) messages. Do you want to start a war between generations? I, for one, greet young resisters I have met in the past month with deep joy. They may not have seen it all yet, but they see with their hearts. Miller is not such a person, but we put the resistance at risk when we make discriminatory comments about his youth. Prof. Cole, this is the first time you have disappointed me (in over a decade). So I hope you hear and take the criticism to heart, and continue with your magnificent work!
But in France children are not allowed to sing Christmas Carols in school because they are Christian-based. France is trying hard to keep religious education separate from public schooling. Unfortunately, this is not appreciated by fundamentalists of any type, who, as you say, perceive public space should belong to them and their creed. But even this fairly non-sectarian Unitarian-Universalists feels sad when the Christmas Carols have to be left out at my daughter's French-run school in San Francisco.
This article makes little mention of the Kurds. Are they interested in having influence in Mosul?
What will this rabble do when HRC wins and becomes President? are they not all gun owners? I suspect it will be a violent, scary time, even more difficult than with Obama-'hating tea-partiers.
A trivial comment, but I counted only 5 charts and graphs, not 6?!? But I sure hope the mainstream press highlights more of these lies! SEe New Yorker article about Trump's ghostwriter this week--excellent deflation of his life of lies.
At some level I wonder whether attacking GLBT/Hispanic community serves to further divide our country (those who are shocked and sympathetic from those who say "you got what you deserved") in a strange parallel to strategic attacks on Shiites to further divide Iraq ("divide and conquer"). So wouldn't attacking this Latino-dominant gay bar set up more infighting that further weakens our country. I think that is exactly why President Obama called for us to unite and stand firm together against such carnage. Wouldn't that strategic goal, of pitting us against one another (brilliantly, given the preponderance of gun-toting people all too ready to shoot up one another) then come under the category of terrorism? Make the holier-than-thou homophobes fight harder against supporters of equal rights for GLBT community, even to the point of violent confrontations?
My most recent MS magazine has an article by Mona Eltahawy in which she says DAESH is an anagram considered derogatory by the group itself because "in Arabic it contains a pun meaning, approximately, 'crush these bastards underfoot' --which is precisely why those of us in the Middle East who despise the group use it." Dr. Cole, can you comment on this?
I'm surprised that either Bush or Cheney have the gall to show their faces in public. Destabilizing a whole region has left any intact country there struggling with the burden of refugee thousands while now Europe itself is facing a refugee invasion dwarfing the movement of peoples after WWII.
We should celebrate the heroes of this story, and here they are in this video (start around minute 8): the students at Virginia Tech and leader Professor Edwards, telling the story of science triumphing over some really bad apples in government: http://flintwaterstudy.org/2016/01/video-the-flint-water-studys-talk-at-virginia-tech-jan-28-2016/
I sure would like to hear more on the PTT from Professor Cole and other writers! I do fear it will spell the end to all local, State, and national authority over environmental standards.
The emergency manager law was revised by Republican-dominated Michigan in 2010-11 to become more draconian than ever before (for example charging the entity to be managed, whether a city or school district, the 6-figure salary to be earned by the EM--debt piled upon debt!). The people of Michigan petitioned to put it on the ballot and threw it out summarily in 2012. Then the legislature re-introduced it, added an appropriation so that it could no longer be resisted by petitioned referendum, and then inflicted it upon Flint. So it is anti-democratic in a number of ways--going against the vote of the people of Michigan. And our Attorney General Bill Schuette claims that he took the same-sex marriage case to the Supreme Court because he did not want lower courts to deny the vote of Michiganders a decade ago against same-sex marriage! But did he challenge the new Emergency Manager law that also directly defied the will of the voters, within a few months of their vote? Nope.
boomer Bob: One key to the Flint fiasco is the nature of Michigan's Dept. of Env. Quality. They seem to operate for natural resource exploitation rather than to protect the health of the people and environment they live in. As evidence I offer you my experience of the "open" meeting the DEQ held in my area about fracking, an auditorium at a Community College with 6 police standing around the presenters, no one in the audience allowed to hold a sign or speak, only to write questions on cards. The DEQ did not want public comment but obedience instilled by fear. These are the people who (having drunk the cool-aid mantra that has turned "regulation" into a dirty word) lied saying that they had provided corrosion control in Flint when they actually had neglected that step out of ignorance or avarice. Perhaps this helps you understand better what happened in Flint.
Prof. Cole, appreciated the 1940's history of the term Political Correctness, but I remembered first hearing it around the time George Bush(father) came back from being Ambassador to China. It seemed to me to be a way of attacking colleges and universities for trying to set some standards about hate speech on campus. Weakening the intellectual base of this country has been seen as a way to strengthen conservative voices, and to me his use of the term brought echoes of China (and Taiwan, sharing similar history and cultural heritage) trying to make sure to keep under control the revolutionary spirit of colleges and college students. Thus the accusation of PC became a useful tool in the American culture wars against the intellectual class.
The earthquake in Nepal and the many small ones in Oklahoma since fracking has spread there make me wonder: Michigan plans to sequester the polluted water remaining after fracking BELOW the water table, deep down. What happens when earthquakes bring that back to the surface? Not a greenhouse gas danger, but nevertheless one we are rushing into blindly!
I just wrote a comment about "The power of nightmares" see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Nightmares
This three-part documentary shows how fear works all too well to manipulate publics whether Western or Middle Eastern; it was used during the Cold War, with Russia as the boogie-man. It was used after 9/11 to twist our country into a vengeful irrational mood that allowed just enough public belief in the Bush-Cheney administration's lies that we threw our riches into invading the wrong country and undercut diplomacy and democracy in the world. Fear is powerful. ISIS is using it most effectively to appear more powerful than they are. And yet...beheading 21 at once, Coptic Christians from Egypt...makes us deeply fearful and helplessly depressed.
I see this as a canny strategy to suck one more country into further chaos, which only benefits the gangsters. And yet I cannot accept the dispassionate tone, the reassuring approach of this piece, Dr. Cole. I am afraid of them even if they are just opportunistic gangsters.
The perpetrator 1) was against all religion; 2) had a gun. The gun lobby in the U.S. should recognize the danger of excessively lax gun laws and speak out about this case. The Christians and Jews in this country should also condemn anyone who shoots on account of (any) religion. This can be a time for our country to come together.
No mention is made here of the Christian Fundamentalists who believe fomenting war in the Middle East will help bring about the End Times. How significant a factor are they in the Republican Party?