TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalPlutocracy 1.0
By Steve FraserPart 1: The Great Upheaval
What came to be known as the Great Upheaval, the movement for the eight-hour day, elicited what one historian has called “a strange enthusiasm.” The normal trade union strike is a finite event joining two parties contesting over limited, if sometimes intractable, issues. The mass strike in 1886 or before that in 1877 — all the many localized mass strikes that erupted in towns and small industrial cities after the Civil War and into the new century — was open-ended and ecumenical in reach.
So, for example, in Baltimore when the skilled and better-paid railroad brakemen on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad first struck in 1877 so, too, did less well off “box-makers, sawyers, and can-makers, engaged in the shops and factories of that city, [who] abandoned their places and swarmed into the streets.” This in turn “stimulated the railroad men to commit bolder acts.” When the governor of West Virginia sent out the Berkeley Light Guard and Infantry to confront the strikers at Martinsburg at the request of the railroad’s vice president, the militia retreated and “the citizens of the town, the disbanded militia, and the rural population of the surrounding country fraternized,” encouraging the strikers.
The centrifugal dynamic of the mass strike was characteristic of this extraordinary phenomenon. By the third day in Martinsburg the strikers had been “reinforced during the night at all points by accessions of working men engaged in other avocations than railroading,” which, by the way, made it virtually impossible for federal troops by then on the scene to recruit scabs to run the trains.
By the fourth day, “mechanics, artisans, and laborers in every department of human industry began to show symptoms of restlessness and discontent.” Seeping deeper and deeper into the subsoil of proletarian life, down below the “respectable” working class of miners and mechanics and canal boat-men, frightened observers reported a “mighty current of passion and hate” sweeping up a “vast swarm of vicious idlers, vagrants, and tramps.” And so it went.
Read more: http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/04/plutocracy-1-0.html
Plutocracy 1.0
By Steve FraserPart 1: The Great Upheaval
What came to be known as the Great Upheaval, the movement for the eight-hour day, elicited what one historian has called “a strange enthusiasm.” The normal trade union strike is a finite event joining two parties contesting over limited, if sometimes intractable, issues. The mass strike in 1886 or before that in 1877 — all the many localized mass strikes that erupted in towns and small industrial cities after the Civil War and into the new century — was open-ended and ecumenical in reach.
So, for example, in Baltimore when the skilled and better-paid railroad brakemen on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad first struck in 1877 so, too, did less well off “box-makers, sawyers, and can-makers, engaged in the shops and factories of that city, [who] abandoned their places and swarmed into the streets.” This in turn “stimulated the railroad men to commit bolder acts.” When the governor of West Virginia sent out the Berkeley Light Guard and Infantry to confront the strikers at Martinsburg at the request of the railroad’s vice president, the militia retreated and “the citizens of the town, the disbanded militia, and the rural population of the surrounding country fraternized,” encouraging the strikers.
The centrifugal dynamic of the mass strike was characteristic of this extraordinary phenomenon. By the third day in Martinsburg the strikers had been “reinforced during the night at all points by accessions of working men engaged in other avocations than railroading,” which, by the way, made it virtually impossible for federal troops by then on the scene to recruit scabs to run the trains.
By the fourth day, “mechanics, artisans, and laborers in every department of human industry began to show symptoms of restlessness and discontent.” Seeping deeper and deeper into the subsoil of proletarian life, down below the “respectable” working class of miners and mechanics and canal boat-men, frightened observers reported a “mighty current of passion and hate” sweeping up a “vast swarm of vicious idlers, vagrants, and tramps.” And so it went.
Read more: http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/04/plutocracy-1-0.html
Tennessee Lawmaker: Child Being Hit With Stray Bullet Is Just An Act of God (Video)
Dealing with gun nuts easily ranks near the top of my list as one of the most frustrating things I have to endure. I would much rather deal with a religious fanatic for 12 hours than a gun nut for even 15 minutes. While both groups of people are often completely ridiculous, the stupidity it takes to honestly believe that a gun and a spoon are equally as dangerous is astounding. Not to say that believing the Earth is 6,000 years old doesn’t take a certain level of idiocy as well, but at least creationists aren’t responsible for 8-10k deaths in the U.S. every year.
Though don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying all gun enthusiasts are crazy, either. One of my good friends is rather fond of guns and even he thinks open carry is dumb and people should be required to be licensed before being allowed to carry a gun in public. And this is a guy who just spent $1,800 on a shotgun and admits he doesn’t feel normal unless he has his concealed handgun on him at all times. So it’s not as if he’s someone who’s anti-gun at all – he just happens to possess a little common sense when it comes to who should carry them and how they should be carried.
Well, in Tennessee there’s currently a push by the state legislature to allow guns in state parks. Prior to an NRA convention in Nashville, state Rep. Glen Casada was questioned about this push in his state and what he would think about a child being struck and killed by a stray bullet while playing in one of these parks.
His answer? If that were to happen, those would just be “acts of God.” He also went on to suggest that a child is just as likely to get killed in a bicycle accident as they are by a gun, claiming that if a gun is “used properly” it’s no more dangerous than a bike.
Read more at: http://www.forwardprogressives.com/tennessee-lawmaker-child-being-hit-with-stray-bullet-just-act-god-video/
The "acts of God" starts at about 12:30 in the video.
American And Iranian Extremists Are United... In Hatred
Normal Iranians and normal Americans seemed pretty optimistic about the deal announcement Thursday. In fact, in Iran, "ecstatic" is probably a better description than optimistic-- at least among Tehran's middle class. For Americans, far more subjected to a ceaseless barrage of extremist propaganda, optimism was as far as it could be expected to go. And in the most backward parts of the U.S., particularly the old slave-holding states of the Confederacy, there is no optimism at all-- just another reason, among so many, to be perpetually aggrieved.
Many people see it as a really good deal. And it looks pretty good-- better than anyone could have expected in the context of all the ranting and raving by Netanyahu, Tom Cotton and the "Bomb Iran" coalition.
As for the economic sanctions against Iran, they would be lifted not upon the deal’s signing, as the Iranians initially demanded, but only after the inspectors have verified that Iran has fulfilled all of its commitments in the deal.
These commitments include reducing the number of Iran’s installed centrifuges by two-thirds (from about 19,000 to 6,104, with only 5,060 allowed to enrich uranium); reducing its stockpile of enriched uranium by 97 percent (from 10,000 kilograms to 300 kilograms); to remove all advanced centrifuges (those that can enrich uranium at a much faster rate) and to place them in internationally monitored storage; to destroy the core of the Arak heavy-water reactor (which could produce a plutonium bomb), ship all its spent fuel out of the country, and forgo additional reprocessing; among other things.
...{I}it is a profoundly good deal; there has never been a nuclear deal, with any country, that is so comprehensively restrictive. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the U.S. Congress to demand “a better deal,” but his definition of such a deal-- one that bans uranium enrichment, dismantles all its facilities, and insists on a drastic change in Iran’s foreign policy-- is unattainable, and, more to the point, he knows it.
Yes, this deal wouldn’t keep Iran from being a menace in Middle East politics, or from repressing its own people. But no arms control deal can aspire to do that. The U.S.-Soviet strategic arms treaties, signed throughout the Cold War, didn’t require the Soviet Union to disavow communism, end its support of Third World insurgencies, or institute Jeffersonian democracy-- but the deals were still very useful. They capped, and in the later years reversed, the nuclear arms race; and they provided a forum for diplomacy, a cooling-off of the distrust and hatred, at a time when no other issues could have done so.
But that isn't what American extremists like Cotton, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are looking for. In their childish fantasy world, "negotiations" equals America dictating terms to smaller, weaker countries... period. Virtually all of the GOP would-be presidential candidates immediately condemned the framework that emerged Thursday. The Wall Street Journal pointed out that Scott Walker is already vowing to dismantle the deal if he's elected president.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, one of the fiercest critics of the deal and also expected to announce a White House bid, vowed to work with his colleagues on Capitol Hill to review the deal and perhaps seek additional sanctions to ensure Iran doesn’t obtain a nuclear weapon. Mr. Rubio is one of four Senate Republicans considering a White House run who signed a letter last month warning Iranian leaders that Congress might try to unravel the deal.
“The initial details appear to be very troubling,” Mr. Rubio said after the deal was announced. “Tehran is gaining international acceptance of its nuclear ambitions and will receive significant sanctions relief without making serious concessions.”
Mr. Walker went a step further when he told a Wisconsin radio host on Thursday that one of his first acts as president would be to dismantle the deal.
Read more: http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2015/04/american-and-iranian-extremists-are.html
A Week Full of Texas Political Scandal
Texas is among the best states to work in as a political reporter because there’s unending petty corruption, political foibles and scandals that swirl like a dust devil on a hot summer day, fun to look at but changing little in the end. Even by Texas standards, this has been an impressive week.
The Dallas Morning News is calling for a special prosecutor to investigate barely in office Attorney General Ken Paxton. Finding cronyism under new Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller apparently is as easy as shooting hogs from a helicopter. The state auditor is shocked, shocked to find a lack of ethics in contracting at the Health and Human Services Commission. And finishing off the list: a Travis County grand jury was so frustrated that it was unable to indict controversial University of Texas Regent Wallace Hall that it gave him a blistering scolding instead.
The only thing missing from the mix is some sort of update on the indictment of former Governor Rick Perry for vetoing funding for the Public Integrity Unit after threating to do so if Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg did not resign due to her drunken driving arrest.
The Morning News’s editorial on Paxton raises some serious points, and the public good probably would be best served by the appointment of a special prosecutor. Paxton last year admitted to the Texas State Securities Board that he had repeatedly violated state law by soliciting investment clients and commissions without registering as an agent, a possible third-degree felony. The board issued a reprimand and fined Paxton $1,000. When a criminal complaint was filed with Lehmberg, she decided the proper venue for the case was Paxton’s home county of Collin. That has prompted today’s Morning News editorial calling for a special prosecutor.
Read more: http://www.texasmonthly.com/burka-blog/week-full-texas-political-scandal
Group Reports Hunger Strike at Karnes County Immigrant Detention Center
More than 40 mothers held in the Karnes Detention Center started a hunger strike Tuesday to protest for their release, according to the San Antonio legal aid organization RAICES. The center detains immigrant families who cross the border illegally.
RAICES says it recorded a phone call with a detainee, which it posted to YouTube. In it, a woman speaking in Spanish confirms the strike and reports that more women are joining up.
Below is an English translation:
Detainees have reported to RAICES that ICE officials placed three mothers with their children in isolation in an unlit room for up to a day. Officials also threatened to separate the women from their children and to add notes to their immigration files to hurt their court cases. Officials have restricted phone calls and visits as well, according to RAICES spokesperson Mohammad Abdollahi.
Read more: http://kut.org/post/group-reports-hunger-strike-immigrant-detention-center
Dallas hospital’s owner says Ebola nurse Nina Pham’s lawsuit should be dismissed
Texas Health Resources filed a response Friday that “generally denies the allegations” in nurse Nina Pham’s lawsuit that poor training and preparation caused her to contract Ebola while caring for a patient.
The hospital system also denied violating Pham’s privacy after she became a patient.
Pham contracted the disease in October at Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas Hospital while treating Thomas Eric Duncan, the first patient diagnosed with Ebola in the United States. Duncan, who contracted the disease in his native Liberia, died Oct. 8.
Pham sued Texas Health Resources last month. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
-snip-
Texas Health Resources said that because Pham contracted the disease while working for the hospital as an ICU nurse, her remedy should be a worker’s compensation claim.
Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/ebola/headlines/20150403-dallas-hospitals-owner-says-ebola-nurse-nina-phams-lawsuit-should-be-dismissed.ece
[font color=green]Of course the hospital wants to change Pham's lawsuit to a WC claim. It would limit the amount that would be paid for their negligence.[/font]
Ted Cruz touts religion in first TV ad of 2016 presidential campaign
WASHINGTON — Ted Cruz deepened his courtship of evangelicals by unveiling a targeted TV ad.
Titled “Blessing,” the 30-second spot — the first TV ad from any declared presidential candidate for 2016 — features images of the Cruz family saying grace before a meal and of others clasping hands in prayer.
It will air this weekend in the four states expected to hold the first presidential contests of 2016: Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. (Cruz visited New Hampshire last weekend and Iowa this week, and he flew to South Carolina on Friday for a two-day visit.)
The ad also will air nationally on the Fox News Channel, during Killing Jesus. The documentary, based on a book by Fox host Bill O’Reilly, aired on Good Friday and will air again on Easter, and Cruz aides said the ad would play twice during each broadcast.
Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20150403-ted-cruz-touts-religion-in-first-tv-ad-of-2016-presidential-campaign.ece
U.S. geologist freed after serving 8 years in Chinese prison, returns to family in Houston
BEIJING -- A Chinese-born American geologist was released from prison in China after serving more than eight years on charges of procuring state secrets, a human rights group said Saturday.
Xue Feng returned to his family in Houston, Texas, on Friday after being deported immediately following his release, the San Francisco-based Dui Hua foundation said.
The foundation has long advocated on Xue's behalf, and Executive Director John Kamm said in a statement that he was relieved Xue was home after what he called a "terrible ordeal."
A staffer at Beijing's No. 2 Prison, where Duihua said Xue was held, said he wasn't authorized to release information to the media.
Read more: http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2015-04-04/us-geologist-freed-after-serving-8-years-chinese-prison-returns-family#.VSAqxeHy3SI
Atlantis Won't Sink, Experts Agree
“Right now, Atlantean society depends on human sacrifice, and transitioning away from that isn’t something we can do overnight. We need to get those more sustainable forms of worship up and running first, and that can’t be done without negotiated compromises and the support of as many stakeholders as possible. Alarmism doesn’t further that.”If you’re like most Atlanteans these days, you’ve heard all sorts of unnerving claims about the future of our continent. Some people are even saying that recent earth tremors are harbingers of a cataclysm that will plunge Atlantis to the bottom of the sea. Those old prophecies from the sacred scrolls of the Sun Temple have had the dust blown off them again, adding to the stew of rumors.
So is there anything to it? Should you be worried about the future of Atlantis?
Not according to the experts. I visited some of the most widely respected hierarchs here in the City of the Golden Gates yesterday to ask them about the rumors, and they assured me that there’s no reason to take the latest round of alarmist claims at all seriously.
***
My first stop was the temple complex of black orichalcum just outside the Palace of the Ten Kings, where Nacil Buper, Grand Priestess of the Temple of Night, took time out of her busy schedule to meet with me. I asked her what she thought about the rumors of imminent catastrophe. “Complete and utter nonsense,” she replied briskly. “There are always people who want to insist that the end is nigh, and they can always find something to use to justify that sort of thing. Remember a few years ago, when everyone was running around insisting that the end of the Forty-First Grand Cycle of Time was going to bring the destruction of the world? This is more of the same silliness.”
Read more: http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2015/04/atlantis-wont-sink-experts-agree.html
[font color=green]A bit of humor to share in light of April Fools Day this week. No disrespect is meant to the members of this group. If the hosts agree that this thread does not meet the SOP of the group, please contact me and I will self-delete.[/font]
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
Home country: United States
Current location: Bryan, Texas
Member since: Sun Aug 14, 2011, 03:57 AM
Number of posts: 112,521
