Thursday, June 5, 2014
No evidence Snowden leaks caused any harm
That's right, no evidence has been provided to that effect. Repeat, none. There's plenty of accusations and hypothetical scenarios, but to date there is no evidence. The government hides behind the specious rationalization that they cannot reveal such evidence for it would further endanger lives. That is not evidence but a smokescreen. In another case of purported leaks causing damage, nothing presented in open court during Chelsea Manning's trial supported that allegation. Again nothing, no evidence. Such claims should be investigated by Congress, the GAO, the IG and determine what harm if any has happened. And that should be weighed by the good such whistle blowing brings.
Support the post office offering basic banking services
From Credo Mobilize:
Predatory check-cashing and
payday-lending companies have been exploiting working-class Americans
for decades by charging outrageous fees and triple-digit interest rates. But
now we have a chance to give the millions of Americans without access
to affordable basic financial services a fair, publicly owned
alternative to payday lenders and big banks. Senator Elizabeth Warren
has an exciting new proposal that would allow post offices around the
country to offer basic financial services like check cashing and bill
paying.
As a student organizer in
Chicago, I've seen the devastating effects of economic injustice
firsthand -- and I want to be part of the solution. That's why I started
my own campaign on CREDOMobilize.com, which allows activists to start
their own petitions. My petition, which is to Congress, says the
following:
Millions of Americans lack access to affordable financial services like check cashing, bill paying and small loans. Please support Senator Warren’s postal banking proposal, which would allow the United States Postal Service to offer financial services at local post offices around the country.
Redefining spirituality and religion for the Commons
Layman Pascal started an IPS thread on an integral religion and my latest comments follow from this post, responding to the inclusion of economic systems in religious considerations. See the discussion for further context.
The various aspects you list could be considered 'lines' in the kennilingus sense, lines in the various quadrants/zones. While religion per se could be considered its own line, they way you're doing it could be viewed as how the other lines intersect/overlap with the religion line. Which of course is how I see the integral level, as integrating the various lines rather than merely keeping them in their strict quadrant/zone sets. I.e., 1) the lines can still be autonomous paradigms with their own validity criteria, yet there are both interactions between them through their somewhat porous boundaries, and 2) there are some universal principles that govern such interactions as well as how each internal mereological structure is organized: aka differance. See e.g. the nature of endo- and exo-relations via intension and extension for different kinds of mereology in this thread. All of which is a long-winded preamble to including economic systems in your religious categories.
Recall our discussion in the anti-capitalism thread where I agreed with the Lingam that the economic paradigm is likely the most significant for how most of us shape our consciousness and daily lives.
The various aspects you list could be considered 'lines' in the kennilingus sense, lines in the various quadrants/zones. While religion per se could be considered its own line, they way you're doing it could be viewed as how the other lines intersect/overlap with the religion line. Which of course is how I see the integral level, as integrating the various lines rather than merely keeping them in their strict quadrant/zone sets. I.e., 1) the lines can still be autonomous paradigms with their own validity criteria, yet there are both interactions between them through their somewhat porous boundaries, and 2) there are some universal principles that govern such interactions as well as how each internal mereological structure is organized: aka differance. See e.g. the nature of endo- and exo-relations via intension and extension for different kinds of mereology in this thread. All of which is a long-winded preamble to including economic systems in your religious categories.
Recall our discussion in the anti-capitalism thread where I agreed with the Lingam that the economic paradigm is likely the most significant for how most of us shape our consciousness and daily lives.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Crowdfunding a Super PAC to reform campaign finance
This is interesting. Harvard professor Lawrence Lessig wants to reform campaign finance laws so he's crowdfunding a Super PAC with that intention. The PAC will contribute to candidates who support campaign finance reform. The initial crowdfunding of $1 million from donors of less than $10,000 was reached so it was matched by wealthy donors. The latter included the usual wealthy Democrats but also included a high profile libertarian donor to GOP campaigns. That is Lessig's hope, to encourage a mix from the political spectrum around the issue of money in politics. He might consider approaching the Patriotic Millionaires that financed the recent MoveOn discussion on inequality with Picketty and Warren for his next round of crowdfunding.
The commons regime of attraction
Rereading parts of TDOO I came upon the following relevant to recent posts on the commons:
"Where critique focuses on content and modes of representation, composition focuses on regimes of attraction. If regimes of attraction tend to lock people into particular social systems or modes of life, the question of composition would be that of how we might build new collectives that expand the field of possibility and change within the social sphere. Here we cannot focus on discourse alone, but must also focus on the role that nonhuman actors such as resources and technologies play in human collectives. For example, activists might set about trying to create alternative forms of economy that make it possible for people to support families, live, get to work, and so on without being dependent on ecologically destructive forms of transportation, food production, and food distribution. Through the creation of collectives that evade some of the constraints that structure hegemonic regimes of attraction, people might find much more freedom to contest other aspects of the dominant order" (section 5.2).
"Where critique focuses on content and modes of representation, composition focuses on regimes of attraction. If regimes of attraction tend to lock people into particular social systems or modes of life, the question of composition would be that of how we might build new collectives that expand the field of possibility and change within the social sphere. Here we cannot focus on discourse alone, but must also focus on the role that nonhuman actors such as resources and technologies play in human collectives. For example, activists might set about trying to create alternative forms of economy that make it possible for people to support families, live, get to work, and so on without being dependent on ecologically destructive forms of transportation, food production, and food distribution. Through the creation of collectives that evade some of the constraints that structure hegemonic regimes of attraction, people might find much more freedom to contest other aspects of the dominant order" (section 5.2).
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
There will always be mass murder, always (huh?)
Jon Stewart makes fun of the regressives that refuse to accept that guns have anything to do with mass shootings. The subject title is what Bill'O the clown O'Reilly said. So Stewart provides those propaganda outlets with a one-size-fits-all response to the continual and ongoing mass shootings in the US so they can get back to the real news. In that parody one of the anchors quips: "Of course there's nothing we can do to stop this from happening, even though pretty much every other developed country has somehow stopped this from happening."
Chamber of Commerce cost projections inflated
Recall several recent posts on the new EPA CO2 standards. Krugman gave the US Chamber of Commerce study the benefit of the doubt and showed how even if those costs were true it would only be 0.2% of GDP, a bargain. Another post showed how a regional US area has already implement CO2 reductions at lower than projected costs. A post of Rikin's response to the new regulations showed that the IoT will generate over $14 trillion in savings compared with the Chamber's estimated $400 billion in in the same period. So now what?
Warren and Picketty on inequality
They appeared together last night on HuffPost Live, video below. The Patriotic Millionaires provided funding for the program, their motto being: Because our country is more important than our money. Quite refreshing given the usual regressive hoarding and oligarchic fascism. (Btw, Krugman explains Picketty's response to the Financial Times over the latter's claim that Picketty got some data wrong.)
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