End The Filibuster

If according to times and needs you should be obliged to make fresh rules and change certain things, do it with prudence and good advice.
—    St. Angela Merici
[It would be “nice” if politicians (both side) could just vote on issues.  The problem is:  if you vote, you can be held accountable by your constituents.  If you don’t / never vote, you can’t.  The Senate is “supposed” to be a deliberative body.  It is supposed to slow the blood-rush from the House.  It may even deny what the “people” want because it feels the House is acting from exuberance.  This was the initial purpose of the filibuster.  Then, when it started to be used to prevent all activity, it was modified to allow the “paper” (i.e., non-talking) filibuster.  This effectively killed a bill with no explanation, debate or vote – on cloture or on the actual bill.  Perfect non-accountability!  Reverting to the “must talk” prior rule, would be a good start, but the bottom line is we must end the filibuster completely.  It is not in the Constitution and is merely an agreed convention within the particular chamber (the Senate).  At the moment, we allow our political “leaders” to avoid debating the merits of a bill, voting to vote on a bill (cloture), and voting on the actual bill.  And then they say (claim):  “It wasn’t me!  It never came up for a vote!)    —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
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2019	#ContinueToResist
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2018	More Executive Time For #DumbDonald
2017	Watched The Inauguration
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2016	Come Dance And Laugh With Me
2015	Looks Good To Me
2014	Desire For The Sea
2013	The Fierce Urgency Of NOW
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2012	One Path
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2011	Emergent Practicality

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Biden Starts His Second Year

The high-minded man must care more for what is right than for what people think.
—    Aristotle
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On This Day In:
2021	DIY: Outdoor Gym Modifications (2)
	Inauguration Day 2021
	(Hopefully) Good-Bye To The Trump Dark Ages
2020	Posting As A Continual Exercise
2019	Border Security – Yes, Border Wall – No
2018	Supporting Survival Values
2017	Inauguration Day 2017 [Sometimes, I hate it when I’m right! — KMAB]
2016	Or A Pot Of Gold After The Storm
2015	One, Two, Three…
2014	Lend Your Hand
2013	Amnesty, n.
2012	Best Resolv’d
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2011	Magic

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Pass A Voting Rights Act For Democracy’s Sake

That a thing is true, is no reason that it should be said, but that it should be done.
—     Cardinal John Henry Newman
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On This Day In:
2021	Tomorrow President Biden Starts Wrestling
	Good-Bye #45
2020	The Burden Of Faith
	On To Superbowl LIV (54)!!
2019	Are Your Dogs Barking?
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2018	And 40+ Years Later?
2017	He Is Alone
2016	Compensation
2015	Charlie Redux
2014	The Crux
2013	Erosion And Rechannelling
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2012	How Many Thought… (One I Know Of)
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2011	Speed Spoils
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2010	A Second 4 Hour Jog

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Living In The Big Lie With A Loser

The house of delusions is cheap to build, but draughty to live in.
––     A. E. Housman
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On This Day In:
2021	An Obligation To Condemn Is Not An Obligation To Ban
	Caught In The Rain
2020	Me Too
2019	#45: Whitewalkers Tremble, Treason Is Forever
2018	Light Or Darkness
2017	Doubtful Education
2016	Absolute
2015	Still The Best Teacher
2014	Inside The Soul
2013	A Toe In The River
2012	Believe It Or Not
2011	The Road To Recovery (And More Myths)

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Republican Ambling

Science is … a way of skeptically interrogating the universe with a fine understanding of human fallibility.  If we are not able to ask skeptical questions, to interrogate those who tell us that something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then we’re up for grabs for the next charlatan, political or religious, who comes ambling along.
—    Carl Sagan
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On This Day In:
2021	I’d Argue Wealth, Then Income
	Knock Him Off His Feet
2020	Steppin’…
2019	Every Vote Counts
2018	Or A President
2017	Pleasures
2016	Why Not?
2015	Je Suis Charlie
2014	To The Nines
2013	Higher And Truer
2012	Life’s Last Question
2011	A Single Heartbeat
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Defeated: So Far (Anyway)

“The untold story of the election is the thousands of people of both parties who accomplished the triumph of American democracy at its very foundation,” says Norm Eisen, a prominent lawyer and former Obama Administration official who recruited Republicans and Democrats to the board of the Voter Protection Project.
…
“Every attempt to interfere with the proper outcome of the election was defeated,” says Ian Bassin, co-founder of Protect Democracy, a nonpartisan rule-of-law advocacy group.  “But it’s massively important for the country to understand that it didn’t happen accidentally.  The system didn’t work magically.  Democracy is not self-executing.”
From an article written by:  Molly Ball
The article is titled:  “How Close We Came:  The secret history of the shadow campaign that saved the election“
Appearing in:  Time Magazine
Dtd:  15 February 2021
[This story is not even close to being over.  Unless there is a massive turnout of Democrats this November, the Republicans will likely take both the House and the Senate.  If that happens, the treasonous insurrection of 6 January 2021 will be swept under the rug and the Republicans will use their dominance at the state level to guarantee the election of a Republican nominee, irrespective of the actual vote totals.  They will “find” the votes necessary to win.  Voter suppression and fake ballots?  You ain’t seen nothing yet…  After all, to Republicans it seems it is less important who wins the election at the ballot box than who actually gets to take office and rule.  (And, yes, I said “rule”.  Not “govern”; rule.)    —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
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2020	Fearless Security
2019	I Prefer A Neat Single Malt
2018	Seeking Finer Fruits
2017	Something That Is Absolute
2016	Animate And Encourage
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2015	In Time
2014	Robust Interconnectivity
2013	What Have We Here?
2012	Tributaries And Eddies
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2011	Penultimate

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Someone Should Tell Senator Joe Manchin

Progress is what happens when impossibility yields to necessity.
—    Arnold H. Glasow
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On This Day In:
2020	Boxing Day 2020
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2019	Almost Soulful Pleasure
2018	Cursive In The News
2017	Coffee Crunch
2016	Preparation
2015	Scarcely Asked
2014	They Resemble Us
2013	Both
2012	That’s Success!
2011	Losing At Dominoes
2010	1,001

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Our Common Humanity

Black people, like all racial groups, are knowledgeable and ignorant, law-abiding and lawbreaking, secure and insecure, hardworking and lazy.  The racial groups are equals, and what makes the racial groups equals is our common humanity;  and our common humanity is imperfect and complex.
…
Mobs have amassed in front of our Capitol and told us we are stealing their country, and told us to go back to our “sh-thole” countries, which caused us to lean in and create more unapologetically.  When the violence and intimidation did not work, the discrediting began, saying we hated white people since we didn’t worship white people;  saying we hated America because we didn’t worship America as exceptional.  Because in racist minds Black people either worship white people or hate white people.  In racist minds, white people can’t just be people like we are.  Black people can’t just be ourselves, like they are.
—    Ibram X.  Kendi
From the essay / article:  “The Renaissance Is Black“
Appearing in:  Time Magazine;  dtd:  15 / 22 Feb. 2021
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On This Day In:
2020	At The Very Least Smile More
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2019	Still Working On Both
2018	Two Jordans To Heaven
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2017	All Greek To Me
2016	Judgment
2015	I Love Bacon, Too
2014	The Wee Bit
2013	Reading Rules
2012	Cadet Prayer
2011	Easy To Tell
2010	A NEW Lion In The Senate (Channeling Mr. Smith)
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My Fear Is She Loses This Bet

Conversations about democracy, technology and the economic dominance of surveillance capitalism are now inseparable.  Looking ahead to the year 2030, I put my bet on democracy because it’s the best idea humanity has ever had, despite all of its obvious imperfections.  When I wake up every morning, I’m thinking about what I can do to contribute to this so that our societies mobilize to double down on democracy.  This begins with saying out loud that the current state of affairs is intolerable.  As citizens, we begin by joining together in our communities, organizations, associations, political networks to demand an end to commercial surveillance.  Our lawmakers hear from the tech lobbyists every day.  They need to feel us at their backs instead.  We are poised at a new beginning, and not a moment too late.
—    Shoshana Zuboff
From her interview:  “Living up to the promises of the digital age“
Appearing in:  Time Magazine;  dtd:  1 / 8 February 2021
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On This Day In:
2020	Still On The Obstacle Course?
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2018	Dominoes II (Update From Last Year’s Post)
2017	Dominoes
2016	Itchin’
2015	In The Not So Distant Future
2014	Sources
2013	Three Essentials
2012	Just Looking
2011	Religious Lessons
2010	View From Under The Bus… (A mid-term report card on the Obama Administration. Long, but still worth reading for historical perspective.)

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Why We Protect The First Amendment

A free press is the unsleeping guardian of every other right that free men prize;  it is the most dangerous foe of tyranny.
—     Sir Winston Churchill
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On This Day In:
2020	#45: And State Prison Waits When You Leave Office
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2019	Looking For A Republican With A Profile In Courage
2018	Hammers, Bells And Songs
2017	My Friends
2016	In Need Of Some Work
2015	Elections Have Consequences
2014	An Ear Of Happy Accidents
2013	Powerful Substitute
2012	Heroes Restored
2011	As You Should

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Too Bad Politics And Greed Get In The Way

There is no other species on the Earth that does science.  It is, so far, entirely a human invention, evolved by natural selection in the cerebral cortex for one simple reason:  it works.  It is not perfect.  It can be misused.  It is only a tool.  But it is by far the best tool we have, self-correcting, ongoing, applicable to everything.  It has two rules.  First:  there are no sacred truths;  all assumptions must be critically examined;  arguments from authority are worthless.  Second:  whatever is inconsistent with the facts must be discarded or revised.  We must understand the Cosmos as it is and not confuse how it is with how we wish it to be.
—    Carl Sagan
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On This Day In:
2020	Precarious Fools
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2019	How #45’s Father Raised Him For Incompetence
2018	Describing #45 – “The Loser” – As A Successful Businessman
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2017	Federal Deficit, National Debt And Tax Cuts For The 1%
2016	Picky, Picky, Picky
2015	Another Limitation On Religion
2014	Enduring
2013	Tell Me More…
2012	Passing…
2011	Fake It ‘Til You Make It

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The Question Is Courage

Personal autonomy and democracy are under assault from surveillance capitalism.  And yet today’s tech industry is largely unregulated, having emerged in the midst of an era of deregulation and defunding of enforcement agencies.  This has allowed tech giants to behave as unelected governments.  Their communications systems have become central to our way of life, as the impact of this week’s Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp outage underscores, but they have their thumb on the scale, amplifying content that triggers fear and outrage because doing so maximizes profits.
…
The sad truth is that the unregulated tech industry produces products that are unsafe.  Congress has faced the challenge of dangerous products in the past.  When the food and medicine industries were unsafe, Congress created the Food and Drug Administration.  When petrochemical companies dumped toxic waste indiscriminately, Congress approved a series of environmental laws.  Just like tech companies today, the affected industries claimed they would not be able to operate with regulation, but that turned out to be wrong.  Now we need something like an FDA for technology products, designed to prevent harmful technologies from coming to market.  For qualifying products, it would set safety standards, require annual safety audits and certification as a condition for every product, and impose huge financial penalties for any harms that result.  There should also be amendments to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to create better incentives for Internet platforms.
Congress also needs to protect people’s privacy from relentless surveillance.  My preference would be for Congress to ban surveillance capitalism just as it banned child labor in 1938.  (The many industries that employed child labor complained then that they could not survive without it.)  At a minimum, Congress must ban third-party use of sensitive data, such as that related to health, location, financial transactions, web browsing and app data.
The third area for legislation is competition, where Congress needs to update antitrust laws for the 21st century.  The six-hour outage of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp illustrated for many one downside of monopoly:  absolute dependence on a service.
…
All of this may be true in Mark Zuckerberg’s mind, but the design of Facebook’s business model suggests that growth and profits are the only factors driving “the company we know.”
Based on the evidence of the past five years, one might say that Internet platforms have launched an attack against democracy and self-determination.  It is a battle they will win unless voters and policymakers join forces to reassert their power.  We have been losing the battle since 2016, but I would like to believe that this week was a turning point.
We have the power.  The question is whether we have the courage to use it.
—     Roger McNamee
From the article:  “Facebook Will Not Fix Itself“
Appearing in:  Time Magazine; dtd: 25 Oct / 1 Nov 2021
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2019	I’m Up For Trying
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2018	#PresidentBoneSpur
2017	My Staggering Confusion
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2016	And Bloggers?
2015	Ethical Energy
2014	Are You Likely To Defend It?
2013	Might As Well
2012	The Long And Short Of It
2011	Bravery

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It Still Isn’t

A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought.
—    Warren Buffett
[We are a republic because the “Founders” did NOT believe in the shared ignorance of the common man to run a government.  They believed representatives could gain expertise, but would fundamentally vote their conscious for a common good.  It is not at all clear the latter assumption remains true.  It is increasingly difficult to vote out of office ANYONE who no longer represents the electorate, because of the massive amounts of monies required to conduct modern campaigns.  Without the check of a suitable AND viable alternative replacing you at every election cycle, today’s politicians tend to vote in their interest and not in the interest of the electorate.  This is both the power of and threat from office holder incumbency.
In fairness to the “Founders”, it is also highly unlikely they imagined modern medicine would extend the lives (and working careers) of an average politician into their 70’s and 80’s.  The working assumption was political office would be a part-time thing or a crowning lifetime achievement, and not a life-long career.  The expectation was that most would HAVE to go back to look after their families, their farms / land, or their businesses.  This is obviously no longer the case – as long as you can retain the power of your elected office.    —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2020	One Is Not Plural
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2019	I Think I’ve Just Been Argoted
2018	Good-Bye AG Jeff Sessions
2017	On Our Wall (Part 2)
2016	I Beg The Question
2015	By Their Fruit
2014	Proven Worth
2013	From Missouri
2012	Recipe To Write: Start With One Aching Urge
2011	Ip And Rib
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2010	Final Competition

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Are We Talking About Health Insurance / Oil Companies, Facebook Or Faux News?

We can imagine a modern-day Virgil leading us through the various circles of corporate misconduct.  Perhaps the first circle is for greed and populated by overpaid executives, the second circle contains the polluters, the next for lobbyists for special tax breaks and another for those involved in regulatory demolition.
At the ninth circle, we find the most egregious forms of corporate misconduct — companies who provide misleading or fraudulent information about their own products.  Such behavior is a risk to the public that the company is uniquely positioned to understand.  It is worse than simple thievery because those who are most knowledgeable use their knowledge to mislead their customers.
When Dante wrote Inferno, he described the ninth circle of hell as the deepest one, where treachery resides and where hosts betray their guests:
By effect of his malicious thoughts,
Trusting in him I was made prisoner,
And after put to death.
(Inferno, Canto XXXIII)
So it is with companies in the ninth circle.  We are indeed prisoners when we unwittingly trust malicious companies who invite us as guests into their showrooms.  These firms know about their dangerous products, withhold that knowledge, subvert science to advance their narrow commercial interests and put their guests to death.
—     William Nordhaus
From his article: “The Ninth Circle Of Corporate Irresponsibility“
Sub-titled: “Reassessing The Impact Businesses Have On The Planet“
Appearing in:  Time Magazine;  Dtd:  26 April 2021
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On This Day In:
2020	Resting
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2019	One For Two
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2018	The Worst
2017	#DonTheCon In The Oval Office
2016	Are You Like #AmnestyDon And Sarah Palin?
2015	Begin Today
2014	Look Again (At Life’s Illusions)
2013	None Knows
2012	Yet
2011	No End In Sight
2010	Back At It…

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The Only Winning Move

President Biden is still being criticized for completing the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.  Here are some quotes and then some of my own passing thoughts about the last twenty years of neo-conservative hawkish foreign “action”…    —    KMAB
You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of discussion.
—     Plato
What is absurd and monstrous about war is that men who have no personal quarrel should be trained to murder one another in cold blood.
—     Aldous Huxley
One is left with the horrible feeling now that war settles nothing;  that to win a war is as disastrous as to lose one.
—     Agatha Christie
Joshua / WOPR:  Greetings, Professor Falken.
Stephen Falken:  Hello, Joshua.
Joshua / WOPR:  A strange game.  The only winning move is not to play.  How about a nice game of chess?
—    A conversation between (Joshua) an A.I. system “programmed” to fight a thermonuclear war and its inventor (Falken).  The lines are from the movie:  “War Games“.
Invading Afghanistan was NOT a mistake.  The correct action should have concluded shortly after capturing / killing Bin Laden at Tora Bora, or not.  Either way, we should have withdrawn from Afghanistan within ninety days and told the the Taliban: “We don’t want to occupy or change your country, but you can be darn sure if you harbor terrorist again, we’ll be back.”  Iraq was a war of choice by the Bush / Cheney Administration.  They took advantage of the fear generated by “9/11” and manufactured reasons to invade there (Iraq).  I’m NOT saying either Saddam or the Taliban were “good” for their respective countries.  I am saying we had no business invading one and and trying to “nation build” in the other.  Both countries have a right to self-rule, no matter how poor we may view their choices.  The correct “moves” were “not to play” (in Iraq) and not to stay (in Afghanistan).  Nothing was settled in either country and it was (not) done at a tremendous cost to our military and their families.    —    KMAB
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2019	Like Smartphones And FOMO?
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2018	Nothing To Build On
2017	This One Is…
2016	Happy Is…
2015	Dare Yourself To
2014	Damned If You Do…
2013	On A Rainy Sunday
2012	Not Sure Anymore
2011	But What Does It Cost?
2009	Another Day, Another Diet…

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