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Corporate politic$ in America

I think the Tea Party and the ACLU (or other odd bedfellows of your choice) should get together and think of some strategy to address this issue. It may have to be outrageous.

Folks in America like to think that our elected officials are beholden to Us, The People. We have spirited elections, and if we don’t like Candidate X, we can vote for Candidate Y. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside just thinking about it.

Then why does the FAA have a “no-fly zone” over Mayflower, Arkansas being overseen by Exxon Mobil? “In other words, any media or independent observers who want to witness the tar sands spill disaster have to ask Exxon’s permission.” I don’t recall anyone electing Exxon as overseer of our skies. And a technicality has spared Exxon from having to pay any money into the fund that will be covering most of the clean-up costs.

How does Congress quietly pass, unbeknownst to most, even those who voted on it, a secret provision to the Agricultural Appropriations Bill for 2013 which protects the manufacturers of genetically modified seeds from litigation in the face of health concerns, such as inflammatory bowel diseases? And check out the waiver Monsanto makes farmers sign.

Most observers believe Monsanto is likely to win a Supreme Court case which one must read to believe; that Justice Thomas, former Monsanto lawyer, doesn’t recuse himself is typical Clarence behavior. Now, if Vermont’s Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act passes the state legislature, requiring manufacturers to label modified food products as such, Monsanto has threatened to sue the state. Meanwhile, food safety advocates have called out President Obama over his broken promise to label GMOs.

Or, as I mentioned before, how do copyright holders give quasi-governmental powers to cut off Internet services?

The answer, my friend, is money. Money in politics. The ‘Revolving Door’ lobbyists have helped create the corporate betrayal of America. Check out The Center for Responsive Politics’ Open Secret website. So that is how one could have an anonymous! member of Congress slip something into a bill that protects the corporations.

None of this is news, exactly – see the FDR quote – but seems to have become both more pervasive and more perverse. So what are we going to do about it? I was watching this TED talk on Arthur’s blog, and it got me to think that there are many people on the political left and the political right who have a common agenda: a sense of fairness. Money trumps fairness, inherently.

I think the Tea Party and the ACLU (or other odd bedfellows of your choice) should get together and think of some strategy to address this issue. It may have to be outrageous.

Let’s face it: governments chug along doing the things they do, often in a self-serving manner, until the people get a bit uppity and sit at a lunch counter where they are unwelcome or refuse to sit in the back of the bus. Not sure what action it is should be yet, but as they say, it could be epic…

As my friend, Dan wrote, in response to the post cited above: “No corporation… has any right to enforce anything. If our government leaders give them that kind of power then we the people have every right to defy their bogus powers…”
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“For someone the right wing press likes to call a socialist,” Obama’s regressive record makes Nixon look like Che.

M is for Math is all around

There are people who actually don’t understand that math is everywhere.

I have this friend Bruce who turned 70 late last year. I’ve only known him for about a decade, so I didn’t know him when he was raising his children. At his party, I learned that one of the primary messages to his kids was that “math is everywhere.” I definitely believe that.

I’ve been hooked on numbers ever since I realized that if you add up the digits in a long number and the total adds up to 9, the number is divisible by 9. Obviously, that same number, if even, is divisible by 18. If it ends with a 5, is divisible by 45, and if it ends with a zero, is divisible by 90. My daughter thinks multiplying by 9 is cool too. You multiply by 10, then subtract the number you multiplied by. So 7X9=7X10-7X1=70-7=63.

I was also fascinated that 5X5=25 and 6X4=24, 6X6=36 and 7X5=35, et al. Thus Y squared =(Y+1) (Y-1) +1. So I know if 123 squared=15129, then I know that 124×122=15128. My daughter is starting to figure this out, too.

Speaking of The Daughter, this problem in her third-grade math homework really bugged me. How many combinations of pennies and dimes are there that will total 45 cents? The given answer was four, but I contend there are five: 4 dimes and 5 pennies, 3 dimes and 15 pennies, 2 dimes and 25 pennies, 1 dime and 35 pennies, and 0 dimes and 45 pennies; the last was deemed wrong, but the wording of the question was vague enough that I would dispute that.

Loved this CBS News story about geometry and pasta: “People may think more about the taste of pasta than its shape. Architects and chefs, however, find much beauty in the design of different pastas.”

I learned to do square root by hand in school. Now I can find it on a $5 calculator in two seconds. I still try to do it manually, though, just because I can.

One of my regrets is that, when one goes bowling, they’ve taken away the ability to figure out the score myself.

There are people who actually don’t understand that math is everywhere. The old recipe book says that I require 10 32 ounce cans for a bunch of lasagna I’m making. But they don’t make 32-ounce cans anymore, they only make 28-ounce cans. How many cans will I need?

Paula Scott explains that the Snellen eye chart is based on geometry.

Old math joke: why is 6 afraid of 7? Because 7 , 8(ate), 9!

Studies show that math is easier if you’ve memorized the easy stuff.

The poem Problems by Langston Hughes.

Someone has found a prime number with 17,425,170 digits.

Of course, I CAN be obsessive. I play license plate math. I see a plate, and it’s usually divided into two parts. I try to calculate each side down to a more common factor. Since there are so many letters, I assign them values. The Roman numerals stay the same. Then I attribute values to other letters as needed. Example: ABC 12345 becomes ABC=12345. C is 100 so AB(100)=12345, AB=123.45; B kinda looks like 13, so A(13)=123.45, which is some number less than 10, but greater than 9. (It’s actually 9.49615385, but I’m doing this in my head, so I’m guessing A=9.5.) Yeah, scary.

I DO recognize that not EVERYONE is as comfortable with math as I am – I’m talking basic arithmetic, plus algebra, geometry, and trigonometry; I was lost when I got to calculus.

Do the math on climate change.

Math IS everywhere!

ABC Wednesday – Round 12

Embarrassing childhood; am I awesome now?

My ears. Use them a lot.

Jaquandor does a quiz-thing. So I do one because I’m lazy. Or lack self-control. Or both.

1: What eye color do you find sexiest?

Brown, for sure. Which is odd, since my wife has blue eyes.

2: White, milk, or dark chocolate mocha?

No idea.

3: If you could get a Sharpie tattoo on your back, what would it be?

A map of Europe. In color.

4: Did you grow up in a small or big town? Did you like it?

Small city. I liked it at the time. It’s been slowly dying away, and it makes me sad.

5: Your favorite adult as a child? (and not your parents, if they were your favorite)

My great aunt Deana, who played Scrabble, and cards with me, and protected me from her overbearing sister, my maternal grandmother.

6: What kind of smoothie sounds really good right now?

Strawberry. Failing that, blueberry, or other berries. I like mango. Hate banana, though, and I like bananas.

7: Most embarrassing moment from your elementary school years?

Hitting Carol Bakic in the head with a slush ball. She was a friend, and there was no malice, just having fun, and I had a lousy aim. (Aiming for the body.)

8: Most embarrassing moment from your middle school years?

I broke my glasses and I had to give a report in front of a class, utilizing the outline on the back blackboard. I simply couldn’t read it, so I took out my binoculars. I didn’t realize how silly that must have looked.

9: Most embarrassing moment from your high school years?

Getting caught with a forged note of my favorite teacher, Miss Foley, so my girlfriend and I could get out of study hall. We didn’t write the note, but nevertheless, I was mortified by her disapproval.

10: Pirates or ninjas? Why?

Pirates. Ninjas wear pajamas outside.

11: Have you ever climbed a tree more than twenty feet off the ground?

No, I was terrible at it.

12: Did you like swinging as a child? Do you still get excited when you see a swing set?

As J wrote: “Oh yeah, I loved swinging. In fact, it’s still fun, if the swing is big enough.”

13: If you could have any pet in the world, illegal or not, what would you get?

A Persian kitten. Fluffy.

14: What’s your most favorite part of your body?

My ears. Use them a lot.

15: What’s your most favorite part of your personality?

My ability to listen well.

16: Madonna or Lady Gaga? Neither? Both? Who cares?

Madonna, though I must say, I haven’t paid much attention to either of them this century.

17: Have you ever watched the Super Bowl all the way through?

Most years, barring interruptions by someone. The funny thing about Janet Jackson’s Nipplegate; missed that, and I was watching the game on a 30-foot screen.

18: Have you ever watched any major sporting event drunk?

Not that I can recall. Well, I had a few during Game 6 of the 1986 World Series when the Mets were losing to the Red Sox. Fortunately, that had a good outcome.

19: What’s the most delicious food you’ve ever eaten in your life?

It was some pastry at a party, which made my jaw drop.

20: Margarine or butter? Which did you grow up with?

Now, Olivio, an olive oil-based spread. I grew up on margarine.

21: Whole, skim, 1%, or 2% milk? (Did you know they make 1 1/2% milk?)

Skim is what we have; I prefer 1%, but it’s all about the calories.

22: Which continents have you been on?

North America. That’s it, though Barbados is MUCH closer to South America.

23: Do you get motion sickness? Any horror stories?

Last summer, I rode a roller coaster for the first time in a long while; HATED it. Awful headache for hours afterward. Used to LOVE them as a kid, too.

24: Backpacks or satchels?

Backpack, always. Easier to ride a bike, and I know where my bus pass is all the time.

25: Would you wear a rainbow jacket? A neon yellow sweater? Checkered pants?

Yes, yes, and I actually did in college, hand-me-downs from my grandfather; photos exist, but I’m not telling where.

26: What was your favorite cartoon growing up?

Rocky and Bullwinkle.

27: If you had to have a cow or a pig, which would you take? Why?

I’d milk the cow. I’ve done it, though not in a very long time.

28: If you had to look at one city skyline for the rest of your life, which would it be?

New York City, though I liked Chicago’s the one time I was there.

29: Longest plane ride you’ve ever been on?

New York City to Barbados. It was longer than Barbados to NYC, because we got bumped up to first class. Five hours in coach is WAY longer than five hours in first class.

30: The latest you’ve ever slept?

3 p.m. – I was REALLY sick.

31: Would you buy a sweater covered in kitten pictures? Would you wear it if someone gave it to you for free?

Wouldn’t buy it. Might wear it on the weekend.

32: Do you pick at scabs?

Generally not, but I put Band-Aids on them to make sure.

33: Favorite kind of bean? Kidney? Black? Pinto?

Black is beautiful.

34: How far can you throw a baseball?

From mid right field, where I was always stationed, to the infield dirt.

35: If you had to move to another country, where would you move?

I told my wife a couple years ago that I’d move to Toronto, after I’d been there a day. Good mass transit, educated populace, lots to do.

36: Have you ever eaten Ethiopian food? Vietnamese? Korean? Nepalese? How was it?

Maybe, yes (Albany restaurants), yes (my wife had students who invited us over), no.

37: Small, liberal arts school or public university? Why?

I went to a small liberal arts public college, and it was fine. Not sure I’d want to go to a place with 50,000 students.

38: A relationship with love or one with sex?

I can’t have both? Well, OK, love.

39: Do you eat enough vegetables?

“No, but I’m getting better at it.”

40: Do you like horror movies? How about thrillers?

Horror, no; there’s enough gore in real life. Thrillers depend on the director, writer, and actors; some are so inane.

41: Would you scratch a crotch itch in public?

No.

42: Do you swear in front of your parents?

Would never do that.

43: Coolest thing you’ve ever been for Halloween?

It was a white skull, a wizard’s hat, and my college graduation gown. Trust me, WAY cool.

44: If you could change your natural hair color, would you? To what?

It’s practically all white. Don’t care.

45: Do you want to get married? Have kids?

I like being married. I’m better married. I love my kid, but at my age couldn’t keep up with another.

46: Do you use a reusable water bottle? If not, you should.

No. Maybe it’s psychological, but plastic water bottles make the water taste plasticy.

47: City or nature person?

City. I’ve done nature stuff, but it’s not my strength.

48: Have you ever used something other than “makeup” as makeup? (Like paint? Markers?)

Marker mustache as a kid.

49: Can you walk well in high heels? Even if you’re a guy?

Almost no one walks WELL in high heels. I wasn’t bad the last time I tried, which was at least 30 years ago, but I feared turning my ankle.

50: Post 5 awesome things about yourself. BRAG AWAY!

I think I am a very compassionate being.

I got stuck, so I asked a co-worker and friend, who said:
I have an incredible singing voice; (I think it’s adequate).
My laugh is infectious.
I have an amazing wealth of info in my mind. (I always fret over what I can’t remember anymore, but I suppose this is still true.)
I have the ability to have a conversation with anyone. (Well, not ANYONE, but I can usually hold my own in most discussions.)

Recycling my gay marriage/SCOTUS post

The post was featured on the TU’s online Best of the Blogs, and it generated quite a few comments to boot.

I have a blog at the Times Union newspaper, the local Hearst-owned daily, where I write far less frequently, and generally have a difficult coming up with topics there. I KNOW what I want to do here in THIS blog, but after over ~~three~~ FIVE years there, not so much.

It’s the week in late March of the Supreme Court hearing two cases about gay marriage, or same-sex marriage, or marriage equality. The latter term may be preferred by advocates – of which I am one – but the former two are more descriptive. It’s like talking about interracial marriage, which was a marriage equality issue in the US in my lifetime. Most people these days don’t say, “Hey, there’s an interracial couple,” do they? Well, generally not to their faces.

In any case, I thought I should write something, but my time was limited, and I needed something while the issue was still hot. So I went to this blog, found a piece I had written in December 2012, changed maybe a half dozen words, and reposted it on my TU blog.

This turned out to have been a great decision. The post was featured on the TU’s online Best of the Blogs, and it generated quite a few comments to boot. Some of it was about how opponents are always dragging bestiality into the discussion.

One guy, Steve, who was self-described as a gay man, was particularly perturbed by it, and I understood this, possibly in a different way. Some let’s say less-than-enlightened folks have made comparisons between black people, especially black men, and lower primates.

In any case, though I think it ought not to need to be said, I oppose bestiality because there’s no free will on the part of the beast. Indeed, that why there have been rules concerning the age of consent about humans, that one wants to protect a child from being exploited.

Related: there was some argument by Justice Scalia in one of the SCOTUS cases, that if you allow gay marriage, you have to allow gay adoption, and that the science is unclear about the efficacy of that. Except I don’t believe that to be true. The issue of gay adoption was addressed in the amicus curie brief that the American Sociological Association filed in the very case Scalia was commenting on.

Here are some interesting figures from the American Consumers Newsletter about support for gay marriage. And, according to his younger daughter, Ronald Reagan would have supported marriage equality.

If nominated, I will not run

The intrepid Chris asked: If you could start a political party, what would be its planks?

Let me first make it quite clear that I have zero interest in actually running for political office.

When I was in high school, I was president of student government. Someone wrote in my yearbook that I was a great President, and she was looking forward to when I was President of the United States! [Her exclamation point.] THAT’S not going to happen.

It’s odd that being a political science major has made me LESS likely to seek elective office. Meanwhile, one of my classmates at New Paltz, Kevin Cahill, has been in the NYS Assembly for a number of years, and doing a fine job, it appears.

Anyway, I started writing down my values and positions, but discovered that it was TOO HARD for writing a blog post. Coming up with the right verbiage was WORK. So I’m cheating.

I looked up the platform of that political party named after me, the Green Party. I found the 2012 platform, and found that much of it I agree with. This begs the question, why am I a Democrat, rather than a Green? Because the way the system is shaped, a Green can’t win very often. Indeed, that is one of the issues.

I’m going to excerpt parts of the Green platform. My non-inclusion of other parts doesn’t mean I necessarily DISAGREE, but that it wasn’t a primary issue for me in the time I was compiling my positions.

Democracy: Our citizens must not permit usurpation of their authority by acts of individuals and government agencies that isolate or insulate government from their oversight and control. Citizens of a democracy must have the information and ability to determine the actions of their government. Vast concentrations of wealth and power that have occurred in recent years are inherently undemocratic. The deregulation of corporate activity and the decentralization and underfunding of the regulatory structures that remain – accompanied by the centralizing of big money – has been a disaster for our country. The true owners of the public lands, pension funds, and the public airwaves are the American people, who today have little or no control over their pooled assets or their commonwealth.

A. Political Reform:
*Comprehensive campaign finance reform, including caps on spending and contributions, at the national and state level; and / or full public financing of elections to remove undue influence in political campaigns.
*A rejection the present method of election without a majority. Accordingly, we call for the use of Instant Runoff Voting where voters can rank their favorite candidates (1,2,3, etc.) to guarantee that the winner has majority support and that voters are not relegated to choosing between the lesser of two evils.
B. Political Participation
*A call for citizen control of redistricting processes and moving the “backroom” apportionment process into the public light. Give the 10-year redistricting process to the Census Bureau or an independent agency.
*All persons convicted of felonies shall regain full citizenship rights upon completion of their sentence.
*To protect against fraud, previously proprietary voting machine source code must be open for public inspection and verification before and after an election.
C. Community
*Support for Head Start and Pre- and neo-natal programs
*Seek opportunities for citizens to serve their communities through non-military community service, such as a Civilian Conservation Corps
D. Free Speech and Media Reform
*Provide broadband internet access for all residents of this country, so that access to information is a right, not a commodity.
*Ensure net neutrality, so that Internet users can access any web content they choose and use any applications they choose, without restrictions or limitations imposed by their Internet service provider.
*Ensure free and equal airtime for all ballot-qualified political candidates and parties on radio and television networks and stations.
*Provide generous public funding for Public Broadcasting System (PBS) television and National Public Radio (NPR) to ensure high-quality news and cultural programming with the widest possible range of viewpoints.
E. Foreign Policy
*Our government does not have the right to justify pre-emptive invasion of another country on the grounds that the other country harbors, trains, equips and funds a terrorist cell.
F. Domestic Security
*Strict enforcement of our First Amendment rights of speech, assembly, association and petition. Federal, state and local governments must safeguard our right to public, non-violent protest.
*End torture, such as in prisons like Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and other U.S.-controlled facilities.
*Restore habeas corpus, a legal action to obtain relief from illegal detention. End the use of indefinite detention without trial.
*Revoke the USA Patriot Act.
*Enact a constitutional amendment affirming that the rights outlined in our Bill of Rights are human rights and do not apply in any way to corporations.
*Oppose the death penalty in the United States and worldwide.

Geez, that’s just the DEMOCRACY section! I agree with most of the SOCIAL JUSTICE section, with special emphasis on consumer protection, a single-payer health insurance, and alternatives to incarceration; re: abortion, I quoted Hillary Clinton’s “safe, legal and rare” mantra. Ditto ECOLOGICAL SUSTAINABILITY, focusing on recycling and also transportation’s mass transit, bicycles and pedestrians. I don’t necessarily disagree with the ECONOMIC JUSTICE AND SUSTAINABILITY section, but none of its tenets made my first draft, except the elimination of hunger.

The rest of your questions will have to wait, Chris.