Guest post: NRA and talk radio fueled bullies open carrying through parking lots

Jan 3rd, 2016 12:39 pm | By

Originally a comment by cazz on These are men with guns who have declared themselves outside the law.

This is the ‘new’ reality of the Rural West. Armed, well off, mostly white males looking for a fight. These are not the hunters and ‘varmint’ shooters of previous generations, but NRA and talk radio fueled bullies open carrying through parking lots and grocery stores looking for some reason to show off their faux manhood, any reason.

They have no reason for rebellion other than repeated refrains of “Government Comin’ for Your Guns” and palpable fears of the Pending Race War.

I’ve lived in the rural PNW for over 30 years, and I’ve watched this generation of “Patriots” with growing concern, and I have counted some of these guys as friends and co-workers. Some of these folks are even liberal in every way you can count, except for the fact that they “need to arm themselves for the upcoming “. They spend their weekends either on the shooting range or at any one of the local fair grounds sure to have a “gun show” where they can add to their collections.

Or, if they happen to own acreage, they’re out target practicing on it usually with semi-automatic weapons, making any given weekend afternoon sound like a war zone in my back yard.

I’ve even been a unwilling party to a near shooting incident in a state campground where one person decided to challenge another’s right to camp in a certain spot, ending in nearly all the males in the whole campground strapping on their holsters and parading around a campground where infants and children were present. After the Sheriff left, things quieted down, until after midnight and one brave soul decided to punctuate his displeasure by starting up drunken ‘target practice’ in the woods.

Personally, I blame the NRA. At one time, more that 30 years ago, the NRA stood for gun safety and responsible gun ownership. Sometime after that, they became what has to be the most successful marketing entity in the US, using fear of “Government Gun Grabs” and fictional race wars as effective as any jingle or slogan ever was.

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The Feds are monitoring

Jan 3rd, 2016 12:09 pm | By

The New York Times on the fascist insurrection in Oregon:

Federal officials said on Sunday that they were monitoring the armed takeover of a remote federal wildlife refuge in the rural southeastern corner of Oregon.

Ok let me stop you right there.

Why are they monitoring it? Why are they allowing armed men to grab and hold a federal building, however small and remote? Would they be simply monitoring it if the armed men were black or foreign or Muslims?

The occupation, which began Saturday afternoon, appeared to be led by Ammon Bundy, a rancher whose family became a symbol of anti-government sentiment in 2014, when his father inspired a standoff between local militias and federal officials seeking to confiscate cattle grazing illegally on federal land.

What do they mean “anti-government sentiment”? It’s pro-theft sentiment is what it is. Federal land doesn’t belong to them personally to exploit for free for their personal profit. It belongs to all of us collectively, which means that we don’t get to exploit it for free for our personal profit. Bundy can’t put his cattle on his neighbor’s land, so why should he be able to put them on our land? Bundy wants to help himself to a public resource and threaten to shoot people who try to stop him. He’s an armed robber. Normally the law doesn’t “monitor” armed robbers on the job.

The Bundys have been organizing opposition to the government case against the Hammonds on social media in recent weeks, which they described as a tyrannical use of federal authority.

“We’re out here because the people have been abused long enough,” Ammon Bundy said in a separate video posted to Facebook on Saturday.

He called the prosecution of the Hammonds “a symptom of a very huge, egregious problem” that he described as a battle over land and resources between the federal government and “the American people.”

“The people cannot survive without their land and resources,” he said. “We cannot have the government restricting the use of that to the point that it puts us in poverty.”

Mr. Bundy described the federal building as “the people’s facility, owned by the people” and said his group was occupying it to take “a hard stand against this overreach, this taking of the people’s land and resources.”

He said the group would remain there indefinitely and told an interviewer that he hoped more supporters would join them. “We have a facility that we can house them in,” he said, referring to the occupied building.

“We pose no threat to anybody,” Mr. Bundy said. “There is no person that is physically harmed by what we are doing.” He added that if law enforcement officials “bring physical harm to us, they will be doing it only for a facility or a building.”

They’re armed. Of course they post a threat to anybody.

The government should extradite them to Ferguson.

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These are men with guns who have declared themselves outside the law

Jan 3rd, 2016 11:02 am | By

Charles Pierce in Esquire on the fascist uprising in Oregon:

This is an act of armed sedition against lawful authority. That is all that it is, and that is quite enough. This is not “an expression of anti-government sentiment.” Flipping off the governor as he drives by is “an expression of anti-government sentiment.” What Alex Jones does every day is “an expression of anti-government sentiment,” and god bless them all for it. That’s what the Founders had in mind. This is not an “occupation” following “a peaceful protest.” That would be all those folks who got bludgeoned and pepper-sprayed out of Zuccotti Park a couple of years back. (And when exactly did ABC News decide it wasn’t a news organization anymore?) These are men with guns who have declared themselves outside the law. These are men with guns who have taken something that belongs to all of us.

Taken it in order to use it to make money for themselves. That’s not “rebellion” or “protest”; it’s just grabbing public property for yourself.

These are traitors and thieves who got away with this dangerous nonsense once, and have been encouraged to get away with it again, and they draw their inspiration not solely from the wilder fringes of our politics, either. Ammon Bundy and his brothers should have been thrown in jail after they gathered themselves in rebellion the first time.

As should Cliven. Why weren’t they?

This is another step down the road that leads to the broken shell of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City. There are respectable people in our respectable politics who have been shamefully silent on the subject, and there are respectable people in our respectable media who seem terrified of calling this what it is. You want an example of the deadening effect of “political correctness” in our politics? Watch what the people running for president have to say about this episode. Look at how it is being framed already—or ignored entirely—by the elite political media. There is a constituency for armed rebellion in this country that is larger than any of our respectable political and social institutions want to admit. It is fueled by reckless, ambitious people who engage in reckless, ambitious rhetoric.

And that’s how fascism takes root and grows. It’s not some kind of mysterious magic; it’s a process of persuasion and incitement.

It does us no good to ignore what is going on in this obscure little corner of the Pacific Northwest. It does us no good to refuse to hold to account the politics that led to this, and the politicians who sought to profit from it. It does us no good to deny that there is a substantial constituency for armed sedition in this country, and to deny the necessity of delegitimizing that constituency in our politics, and the first step in that process is to face it and to call it what it is.

And, in related news, of course, Tamir Rice is still dead.

God bless America.

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The continuing need to cringe and grovel

Jan 3rd, 2016 10:09 am | By

Robert Fisk in the Independent on the New Year’s explosion of executions in Saudi Arabia:

Saudi Arabia’s binge of head-choppings – 47 in all, including the learned Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqr al-Nimr, followed by a Koranic justification for the executions – was worthy of Isis. Perhaps that was the point. For this extraordinary bloodbath in the land of the Sunni Muslim al-Saud monarchy – clearly intended to infuriate the Iranians and the entire Shia world – re-sectarianised a religious conflict which Isis has itself done so much to promote.

All that was missing was the video of the decapitations – although the Kingdom’s 158 beheadings last year were perfectly in tune with the Wahabi teachings of the ‘Islamic State’.  Macbeth’s ‘blood will have blood’ certainly applies to the Saudis, whose ‘war on terror’, it seems, now justifies any amount of blood, both Sunni and Shia.

It’s like this: the Saudis are our bastards, while IS are not. Loyalty is a virtue, right?

It will also present the West with that most embarrassing of Middle Eastern problems: the continuing need to cringe and grovel to the rich and autocratic monarchs of the Gulf while gently expressing their unease at the grotesque butchery which the Saudi courts have just dished out to the Kingdom’s enemies. Had Isis chopped off the heads of Sunnis and Shias in Raqqa – especially that of a troublesome Shia priest like Sheikh Nimr – we can be sure that Dave Cameron would have been tweeting his disgust at so loathsome an act. But the man who lowered the British flag on the death of the last king of this preposterous Wahabi state will be using weasel words to address this bit of head-chopping.

Our bastards.

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Fascist uprising in Oregon

Jan 3rd, 2016 9:33 am | By

Unbelievable. From the Washington Post:

An armed militia took over a building at a national wildlife refuge in Oregon late Saturday and vows to occupy the outpost for years to protest the federal government’s treatment of a pair of ranchers facing prison time.

The occupation of a portion of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge 30 miles southeast of Burns, Ore., followed a peaceful march for ranchers Dwight Hammond, 73, and Steven Hammond, 46, who are scheduled to report to federal prison in San Pedro, Calif., on Monday after being convicted of arson, according to the Oregonian.

A peaceful march? By an armed militia? There is no such thing.

Among the occupiers are several members of the Bundy family, whose patriarch — Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy — was involved in an armed standoff with government agents over grazing rights in 2014.

And as far as I can tell he’s never been prosecuted for that. Here’s a bit from the Wikipedia entry on the subject:

On May 8, Clark County sheriff’s officials said that they were interviewed by the FBI as part of an investigation into armed Bundy supporters who confronted federal officers during the standoff.[113] The investigation was confirmed by Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie, who stated “I’ve said all along there has to be accountability for what took place on April 12.”[114]

Joe Lombardo, who was in charge of police officers at the scene and who was interviewed on May 1, said the FBI agents were primarily interested in who was pointing weapons at federal agents, and that he expected the FBI to be poring over videotapes and photos taken during the standoff in order to identify people making threats.[79]

There was an investigation; it may still be in progress; but Cliven Bundy is not in prison, let alone shot to death as Tamir Rice was.

Back to the Post:

Ryan Bundy told the Oregonian that the group isn’t holding hostages and doesn’t want to resort to violence but will not rule it out if authorities attempt to remove the occupiers from the property. He said many of the occupiers would be willing to fight — and die — to reclaim constitutionally protected rights for local land management, according to the Associated Press.

…

The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge was established on August 18, 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt “as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds,” according to the park’s website.

“The Refuge represents a crucial stop along the Pacific Flyway and offers resting, breeding, and nesting habitat for hundreds of migratory birds and other wildlife,” a statement on the site says. “Many of the species migrating through or breeding here are highlighted as priority species in national bird conservation plans.”

So humans can’t use that particular land to make money from ranching.

Late Saturday, the occupiers blocked the entrance of the federal headquarters with a pickup truck and placed an American flag over the welcome sign, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. An Oregon State Police car “idled by the side of the road just outside Burns,” the broadcaster reported, but there were no signs of a larger law enforcement presence in the area.

Well of course the “occupiers” are white. If they weren’t white I daresay there would have been more than a single cop car idling by the side of the road.

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They will stop at nothing to make it harder for women to access abortion

Jan 2nd, 2016 5:39 pm | By

I’m glad to see that NARAL hasn’t bought into the bullshit.

We believe that women should have the option to choose abortion. Today they can, thanks to the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. But even though access to abortion is legal, our right to it is far from safe. Anti-choice groups attack our right to choose at every opportunity.

The Problem

Anti-choice people want to outlaw abortion, regardless of the woman’s situation. They will stop at nothing to make it harder for women to access abortion. They even target the doctors who provide abortion care.

Anti-choice people use many of the following tactics to reach their goals:

At least NARAL still gets that the attack on abortion rights is a war on women.

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Guest post: There was this thing called “femininity”

Jan 2nd, 2016 5:17 pm | By

Lady Mondegreen offered me a comment she made elsewhere as a guest post and I snapped it up.

If you insist that the meaning of woman can no longer be tied to biological sex (“a woman is an adult female human being,” where “female” means “body which produces egg rather than sperm cells,” or “body which most closely resembles those had by egg-producers,”) then how do you define it?

I’ve been told that a woman is “a person who identifies as a woman,” a circular definition that reduces “woman” to a self-chosen “identity.” It says nothing about why anyone would choose to be a woman. It also erases millions of women who never chose their identity as women, and certainly have no say in the social implications of being one–in other words, the class of people, worldwide, who are oppressed because they were born in bodies that produced ova rather than sperm (or were externally physically indistinguishable from them.)

When I was a kid, there was this thing called “femininity.” It consisted of the presumed attributes of a woman: passivity, gentleness, nurturing tendencies (including a deep desire to have and care for babies,) fondness for pastels, intuitiveness, and other qualities. Some of the qualities were negative: inferior intelligence (especially with regards to math and science,) relative lack of leadership qualities, indecisiveness, pettiness, a fascination with trivialities, a tendency to gossip. They were all normative.

I don’t think it’s enough to divorce the negative qualities from “femininity.” And I don’t think it’s enough to divorce “femininity” from “biologically female.” I think we need to divorce “femininity” (and its contemporary equivalent, woman-as-gender,) from “woman.”

But we do need to acknowledge the class of people who are despised and oppressed because they were born in bodies that produce ova rather than sperm. Furthermore, we need to acknowledge that they are oppressed, in large part, because of the bodies they were born into–however they identify (assuming they have the privilege to “identify” as anything, outside of what their society tells them they are.)

(And as long as saying the above triggers abuse [“TERF,” “bigot,” “cis scum,” “subhuman,”] the movement for equal rights for egg-bearers is going to have a problem.)

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Fancy Smelling Fire Hazards

Jan 2nd, 2016 4:17 pm | By

A friend of mine wondered about a targeted ad on Facebook, an ad so absurd I couldn’t believe it’s not a parody.

The guy from the Dos Equis ad, saying

  I don’t always buy candles

  but when I do I buy man candles.

Then a picture of a black jar holding a candle with exploding flames behind it.

SCENTED CANDLES MADE BY MEN, FOR MEN.

Scent is the first thing people notice and leaves a lasting impression. Make sure it’s a good one. Smoulder Wolf candles will ensure your place smells incredible, without the overpowering feminine scents from your typical scented candle.

So I had to know – is it parody or is it really that level of jackassery? I availed myself of the finest search engine, and found Smoulder Wolf.

GENTS. THE TIME HAS COME.

We are no longer limited to buying those ridiculous flowery smelling candles that females set fire to.

Made from 120% testosterone, our candles burn at a fearsome 1400°C releasing incredible scents.
Ok – confirmation: it’s a joke.

Cover up those unwanted smells with manly scents, saving you hours of cleaning.

Your place will be transformed from a mancave into a love-shack for you and the wench.

Studies show that 60% of the time, they work every time.
Good to meet you, Smoulder Wolf.

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Helping out

Jan 2nd, 2016 1:05 pm | By

More from Hebden Bridge, via the HB website.

The main road through the town during the flood:

Christmas Floods 2015

Guys from a mosque in Halifax coming to help with the Hebden Bridge clean-up.

Halifax Mosque

Photo: Ron Taylor

Aamir Mahmood wrote that “The lovely people of Mylthmroyd and Hebden Bridge were very welcoming. They have been working tirelessly days and nights to restore their homes following the flood damage. We can not take the pain and suffering away, but we can certainly stand by you and do our bits to get you through it. This beautiful community will be back to its normal very soon.”

My guess is that actually they do help take some of the pain away.

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47

Jan 2nd, 2016 12:04 pm | By

Reuters reports:

Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shi’ite Muslim cleric and dozens of al Qaeda members on Saturday, signaling it would not tolerate attacks, whether by Sunni jihadists or minority Shi’ites, and stirring sectarian anger across the region.

When in doubt, kill lots of people.

Most of the 47 killed in the kingdom’s biggest mass execution for decades were Sunnis convicted of al Qaeda attacks in Saudi Arabia a decade ago. Four, including Nimr, were Shi’ites accused of involvement in shooting policemen.

The executions took place in 12 cities in Saudi Arabia, four prisons using firing squads and the others beheading. In December, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula threatened to retaliate against Saudi Arabia for any execution of its members.

Iran responded with anger and threats.

n Iraq, prominent religious and political figures called for a severing of ties, calling into question fence-mending efforts by Riyadh that could help boost a regional alliance against Islamic State militants.

However, the executions seemed mostly aimed at discouraging Saudis from jihadism after bombings and shootings by Sunni militants in Saudi Arabia over the past year killed dozens and Islamic State called on followers there to stage attacks.

Islamic State called on Saturday on supporters to attack Saudi soldiers and police in revenge for the executions of militants, in a message on Telegram Channel, a prominent vehicle for the group’s backers, the SITE monitoring group reported.

Saudi Arabia’s ruling Al Saud family has grown increasingly nervous in recent years as Middle East turmoil, especially in Syria and Iraq, has empowered Sunni militants seeking to bring it down and given room to Shi’ite Iran to spread its influence.

God wars; just what the world needs more of.

 

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Bonnnnnngggggg

Jan 1st, 2016 5:07 pm | By

Now that’s a fireworks photo.

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The fatwa on female slaves

Jan 1st, 2016 5:01 pm | By

The Independent a few days ago:

Isis has released a fatwa detailing how and when its fighters can rape female sex slaves – “one of the inevitable consequences of jihad”.

The document, drawn up by the terrorist group’s “Committee of Research and Fatwas”, was revealed by Reuters news agency after being discovered among a huge trove of documents seized by US special forces in Syria.

…

The fatwa on female slaves, which could not be independently verified, was apparently released in response to a question on unspecified “violations” by Isis fighters owning female slaves.

It lists 15 rulings, which go into explicit detail prohibiting intercourse if a slave is menstruating or is pregnant, and banning forced abortions.

Nothing to do with the well-being of the slaves, of course. Who cares about them? No, it’s all about purity and taboos – what doesn’t matter as opposed to what does. “Never use a blue-handled knife to cut the throat of a captive” – that kind of “rulings.”

“If the owner of a female captive, who has a daughter suitable for intercourse, has sexual relations with the latter, he is not permitted to have intercourse with her mother and she is permanently off limits to him,” one says.

Because that’s eww gross haram – not because of anything to do with the mother or the daughter themselves and their feelings or wishes.

Militants are not allowed to sell slaves to anyone they know will mistreat them, the document says, adding: “The owner of a female captive should show compassion towards her, be kind to her, not humiliate her and not assign her work she is unable to perform.”

Ok there they stumble into some awareness of the humanness of their captives, but not so much that they say don’t rape them or treat them as slaves.

I wonder how scrupulously they follow the rule about not humiliating her.

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Always with the questions

Jan 1st, 2016 4:08 pm | By

I’m wondering something.

You know “All Lives Matter”? That infuriating retort to Black Lives Matter? That maddeningly clueless, point-missing, pugnacious attempt to say shut up about racism?

Here’s a fresh new one just today, from the Elko Daily, by someone named Chuck Muth:

I know I shouldn’t write this – and I know I’m going to bring down the wrath of the Thought Police and the race-hustlers upon my head – but I’m sick and tired of this white-hating “black lives matter” crud and ain’t gonna take it anymore.

You know right where you are with that kind of thing, don’t you. You know to turn around and walk briskly away.

You know that “Black Lives Matter” is absolutely not saying that only black lives matter, or that other lives don’t matter – it’s just saying that black lives matter. You know that jumping in to shout that all lives matter is totally missing the point, and is shutting down the much-needed work of reminding complacent white people that racism hasn’t gone away.

By the same token, you know “I’m not a feminist, I’m a humanist”? That’s a trope too. It has the same flaw. Being a feminist is not opposed to being a humanist; one can (and should) be both. Feminism doesn’t mean taking away all the rights from men and giving them to women; it means ending the second-class status of women. It means treating women and men as equals. Treating the two as opposed is just an annoyingly uninformed way of denying that women are treated as subordinates. You already know that; it’s obvious, and it’s been much rehearsed over the past few years, including here.

So what I’ve been wondering is, what is it with a lot of progressive types who lose their shit when a feminist says no we should not stop talking about abortion as an issue of women’s rights? Why do those progressive types suddenly start saying it doesn’t erase women at all if we talk about people who need abortion rights as opposed to women who need abortion rights? Why do they suddenly forget all about shit like All Lives Matter and I’m not a feminist I’m a humanist when it comes to abortion?

I would love to know.

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Guest post: Tales from the Hebden Bridge Food Hub

Jan 1st, 2016 12:48 pm | By

Kirsty Vincent Hall on Facebook.

After even a few hours in the food hub, you can spot the actual flood victims.

You can see it in the eyes. They are the ones with the hundred-yard stare.

Sometimes we need to lead them around gently. So much has happened to them in such a short time that when faced with a mountain of food – and very quickly and amazingly it is a mountain – they are overwhelmed.

We learn to question. And to keep it very simple and matter of fact.

‘Do you have something to eat for tonight? Do you have power? OK, no power. Right, let’s find things that don’t need to be heated. Do you have any way to make tea? No, well, please come back and get teabags once your power is on. Have you had a free cup of tea in the Town Hall café?

Now, how about bread? Brown? White? Great, now let’s get you something to put on it. Jam, peanut butter, sandwich spread? What about breakfast? Yes, you do need something for breakfast. You’ve got your milk, so how about some cereal to go with it?

Understandably, they are completely focused on their most pressing and immediate needs. Many of them cannot think beyond their next meal, which is why we ask about breakfast.

And that’s if they can manage a meal at all. We speak to many who haven’t been able to eat properly for days. ‘I have a knot in my stomach’, they say.

So we asked for donations of crisps. It sounds so frivolous and we know it’s empty calories, but it seems to be something that many of our flood-struck people can face eating. And even empty calories are better than no calories.

We encourage them to go and get the free hot food that is being made in the few remaining venues with working kitchens or being so generously donated by curry houses in Bradford and Halifax. Someone who’s taking food out to the older people reports back that they often don’t like things like curry and pizza; they want comforting and familiar food like sausage and mash. We don’t know how to fix that this time around but we make a note to report it for the flood plan and try to send things like tinned corned beef out in their emergency packs.

Other people come in. They are desperately apologetic. They have not been flooded, so they are sure the food is not meant for them.

Then it turns out they’ve had no electricity for days and all the perishable food in the freezer and fridge has gone bad and they have eaten everything that can be eaten cold.

But they are still sure the food is not meant for them.

Still others come in. They are even more apologetic. They have not been flooded and they haven’t lost power. Often they have been busy shovelling shit-filled mud from our ruined streets all day and they’ve just realised they’ve run out of bread. Or they have no milk for their children and all the shops are closed and no one knows when they will reopen. Or they have no transport to the nearest town.

We reassure. The food is meant for everyone. The whole town has been affected. In the beginning, there are no open food shops and very few of us can get to the shops outside the valley. Even once pop-up shops start appearing, the cash machines are still full of mud. No one knows when the roads will be fully open and safe. In the first few days getting out of the valley can take hours and even if you have a car, it’s not a good idea to get in the way of the emergency vehicles. I read on Facebook, ‘please stay off the roads, every car is slowing the emergency road repairs’.

And besides, we are all incredibly busy. Until you’ve experienced a massive flood, you can’t quite imagine quite how much there is to do and how urgent it all is. Who has the time to even think about shopping?

‘The food is here for everyone. Please don’t feel bad. Just take what you need.’

We have a few who take advantage of course. Someone sagely points out that to some in Hebden Bridge – where we do not yet have a food bank – the flood has bought a welcome bonanza of free food. And in any situation, you will always get the odd anti-social person who is selfishly looking out for the main chance. We use our best judgement and gently question one or two who come back just that little bit too often or seem to be concentrating on higher value items that might have a resale value.

But hearteningly, they are such a tiny fraction.

Mostly it is surprisingly hard to get people to take free food.

The vast majority of people take the absolute bare minimum. They are desperately anxious to leave enough for others, even when we have so much food that we have to stack it under the tables to stop cascades of biscuits, teabags and baked beans.

So they only take that one thing that they have run out off. Or they take just enough for that night. We have one person who has been flooded who apologetically returns the next day, embarrassed that she needs more food…but who has brought back the stuff that she’s decided she doesn’t immediately need, to make sure there is enough for other flood victims!

A few days in, as our food mountain grows, we switch tactics.

‘We don’t want to be left with this massive pile of food at the end’ we say, ‘there’s so much that it will be a real logistical problem if it doesn’t go, please take some.’

‘What about the food bank? You could send it there,’ they almost always reply.

‘I’m sure we will send some there, but Todmorden and Mytholmroyd have as much food as we do and the Todmorden foodbank only has so much storage space. Besides, the fresh food will go off if it’s not used soon. Honestly, we’d much rather you took it instead of us having to throw it out. It feels so wrong to have to throw away this food that people have so kindly given. Please take some food.’

The one phrase we hear over and over again is, ‘I’m sure there are people worse off than me.’

We hear it from people in ground floor flats and boats who’ve lost absolutely everything. We hear it from people who’ve had to throw out shit-soaked furniture, carpets and their children’s toys. We hear it from pensioners who’ve lost a lifetime of memories. We hear it from people whose businesses have been ruined and who might go bankrupt. We hear it from people whose kitchens have just been ripped out by sympathetic strangers. We hear it from people who don’t feel like real flood victims because ‘only’ their basement flooded. We hear it from people who have had to be evacuated from their homes. We hear it from people who have lived in cold dark houses for days.

Somewhere in the Calder valley, there is that one person who objectively has it worse than everyone else. I do not know who that person is but if they came into the Hebden Bridge food hub, I can practically guarantee that person would say it too!

‘No, lass, I won’t take more than my fair share. I’m sure there are people far worse off than me.’

Feel free to share… but if you want to publish it in a news outlet, you can damn well give a large contribution to the relief fund.

P.S. PLEASE don’t send any more food; you’ve all been very generous and we have more than enough.

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Jerkigarchy

Jan 1st, 2016 12:31 pm | By

Paul Krugman on the impact of money on character.

Wealth can be bad for your soul. That’s not just a hoary piece of folk wisdom; it’s a conclusion from serious social science, confirmed by statistical analysis and experiment. The affluent are, on average, less likely to exhibit empathy, less likely to respect norms and even laws, more likely to cheat, than those occupying lower rungs on the economic ladder.

Especially in a place like the US, where getting rich is seen as evidence if not downright proof of merit.

Modern America is a society in which a growing share of income and wealth is concentrated in the hands of a small number of people, and these people have huge political influence — in the early stages of the 2016 presidential campaign, around half the contributions came from fewer than 200 wealthy families. The usual concern about this march toward oligarchy is that the interests and policy preferences of the very rich are quite different from those of the population at large, and that is surely the biggest problem.

But it’s also true that those empowered by money-driven politics include a disproportionate number of spoiled egomaniacs.

Yes, I think that’s true. I think, again, it’s especially true in places where making lots of money=virtue. How can rich people not come to think they’re better than everyone else? And how can people like that be good at public service?

The most obvious illustration of the point I’ve been making is the man now leading the Republican field. Donald Trump would probably have been a blowhard and a bully whatever his social station. But his billions have insulated him from the external checks that limit most people’s ability to act out their narcissistic tendencies; nobody has ever been in a position to tell him, “You’re fired!” And the result is the face you keep seeing on your TV.

Not all that much in my case, because I avoid the nonstop election coverage.

But yes, the point is, by making our elections so much a matter of how much money the candidate has, we’ve locked ourselves into government by narcissistic bullies.

Just to be clear, the biggest reason to oppose the power of money in politics is the way it lets the wealthy rig the system and distort policy priorities. And the biggest reason billionaires hate Mr. Obama is what he did to their taxes, not their feelings. The fact that some of those buying influence are also horrible people is secondary.

But it’s not trivial. Oligarchy, rule by the few, also tends to become rule by the monstrously self-centered. Narcisstocracy? Jerkigarchy? Anyway, it’s an ugly spectacle, and it’s probably going to get even uglier over the course of the year ahead.

Happy new year.

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You can see it when you look at Hitler’s Germany

Jan 1st, 2016 12:20 pm | By

Erdoğan thinks the Turkish presidency – occupied just now by none other than Erdoğan – should have more power, the way Hitler did.

After returning from a trip to Saudi Arabia, Mr. Erdogan was asked by the Turkish news media whether a presidential system was possible given that the government is now organized under a prime minister.

“There are already examples in the world,” Mr. Erdogan said. “You can see it when you look at Hitler’s Germany.”

Hitler, who became chancellor of Germany in 1933, assumed the presidency in 1934, a move that allowed him to consolidate power to become the Führer.

While Mr. Erdogan did not elaborate, his comment is bound to raise concern among critics who view him as increasingly authoritarian.

Ya think?

On Thursday, there was little reaction to Mr. Erdogan’s comments, which were made late in the day. Part of that may be attributed to nervousness about insulting the president, which could bring a jail term, and part to the quiet of the New Year’s holiday.

Well yes, that would tend to mute public criticism, wouldn’t it.

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Going down

Jan 1st, 2016 12:12 pm | By

Ensaf Haidar says Raif’s health is deteriorating.

Ensaf Haidar, who was granted asylum in Canada with the couple’s three children, said on Thursday that she hoped her husband would end a hunger strike he had initiated more than 20 days ago to protest against his transfer to a different prison in Saudi Arabia.

A member of Amnesty International in Canada and a spokeswoman for the Canadian government both said they were unable to confirm the hunger strike.

…

“I am very worried about him,” Ms Haidar said on Thursday. “His health, both physical and mental, is very poor.”

She said she last spoke with her husband two weeks ago, and had been kept informed of Mr Badawi’s condition by a contact in Saudi Arabia whom she declined to identify.

Bad, bad news.

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Guest post: Maureen’s adventures in the flood

Dec 31st, 2015 5:27 pm | By

Maureen Brian wrote up her adventures in the Hebden Bridge flood on Facebook and I got her permission to post it here too. She notes that she’s too decrepit to join in the scrubbing but she makes damn sure to give credit to the people who do. Here’s Calderdale Flood Relief in case you want to make a donation. I’ll add some photos from the Calder Valley Flood Support group on Facebook.

To set the scene, I was in London when the flood hit on the afternoon of 26 Dec, having lured V. here to commune with the cats on the promise that this place was warm, cosy and full of books and other things to play with. Yes, I ended up feeling guilty.

The house was above the flood line – higher than ever recorded before – and was not harmed at all. We had already had several scares and one actual flood in the month. The electric power failed. The gas stayed on (so coffee) as did the landline but your bog standard phone is not as much fun as the internet. The house at the back of mine, though, is built into the hillside and had water pouring in at the back and out at the front several times. At least that was ground water and clean but still a mammoth task to get rid of!

Meanwhile, the whole of the centre of town was destroyed. The buildings are almost all of solid stone and will survive but the mess was horrendous. Most of the damage was to homes and businesses which had been gradually and painfully rebuilt after the 2012 floods – yes, that’s 2, one in June and one in July!

Credit

The majority of the buildings in the centre of town were built or had a major refurbishment from 1850 onwards when it was entirely reasonable to have cellars. Now they filled up again. We lost the use of, in no particular order, all the food shops, all 6 of the cash machines which were under water at the height, all the cigarette shops (4), our bookshops and a famous comic shop and the roads to the adjacent towns of Mytholmroyd and Todmorden were impassable. So, total boredom, cold and discomfort for poor V. The available candles and torch batteries just about held out but not the fags!

Credit

Christmas is the time for major engineering works on the railway so I arrived back on my planned date of 27 Dec, early evening, to find that the railway station had no lighting at all and exit involves use of a subway which is dim and creepy at the best of times. But there was V. wrapped in several scarves and bearing a torch. Back home in 5 minutes where we could sit in the dark and watch the lights in the houses across the valley, but gritting our teeth a little at their good fortune.

Mytholmroyd had it worse than HB and up on the top of the hill people were advised not to try to get anywhere unless they knew the route very well as wet bogs were exploding across the roads with the sheer volume of water, something which happens on unlit roads with no notice at all.

So that’s the summary of the bad bits. You will have seen the pics of shops dumping their entire ruined stock out into the streets.

Bookcase

Mashable

The good bits are really good. After 2012 a group had got together – we do that in HB at the slightest excuse – to set up stores of basic equipment, sandbags, things to start the cleanup. Those were soon exhausted but by then the place had leapt into action. Marco at the pizza shop – just beyond the edge of the flood, still with power, was handing out free pizza and vast quantities of strong coffee to volunteers before the water had receded.

We also had the Town Hall, the 1890’s council offices recently extended to provide meeting rooms and space for small businesses plus a cafe and even more importantly working loos. It seems that supplies of cleaning materials and basic necessities – food, loo paper – poured in along with the volunteers. It was up and running as the 24 hour hub for HB in no time at all, coordinating requests for help with available muscle and liaising with police, fire brigade. It also offered specialist help and advice, all for free. All this is why I’m convinced we’ll get the town back on its feet though that may not be finished within a year. Most of the goods on offer were gifts from businesses and individuals.

We just cope. Helen at the wool shop is busy knitting up what remains of her stock and offering jumpers to friends and customers to retain her sanity until she can open as a business again in her volunteer-scrubbed shop in Market Street. Pics you may have seen taken from a balcony there are hers though any number of people are claiming credit for them! It’s become a running joke.

We went down to the Town Hall on Wednesday to charge my phone and were amazed not just by how efficient it all was but also how jolly. While we were there we bumped into members of a Muslim community group up from London to supply both muscle and curries – one of many such groups – also young soldiers coming in for their baked potato and baked beans, along with locals happy to just talk to other people. Floods and similar events isolate people terribly.

Credit

We also saw the visit of Rory Stewart, junior minister at Environment and now officially Minister for Floods. I understand that he later got a short lecture from a FoE person on retaining water in the hills rather than relying upon massive and expensive civil engineering works in the valley bottom once the flood is happening. He seems brighter than the average Tory but will he be able to convince Cameron, the very man who appointed a climate change denier as his first Secretary of State in that department?

We are fortunate not to be blessed – yet – by a visit from Cameron himself who might not have been well received, shall we say?

So where are we now? Bright sunshine and the odd shower. The Dusty Miller pub in Mytholmroyd, badly affected, is opening tonight with an impromptu party but very likely no furniture. The Picture House in HB, scrubbed clean and with the carpet and seats removed from the stalls, starts its intended programme on New Years Day, using only its rather hard 1920s seats in the balcony with no heating so the ads say “bring a blanket.” There is a crack along the length of the A646 of perhaps a kilometre where it overhangs the canal and would fall into it should we get that sort of rain again. Looks like it will be a rebuild costing the government more than it might have done to start managing the catchment area of the benefit for the ordinary mortals below. Meanwhile traffic is slow and single file.

We are still here and will remain. We could just do with a more scientifically literate government.

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How it starts

Dec 31st, 2015 12:37 pm | By

Gosh, really?

The Rationaliser ‏@TheRationaliser 8 hours ago
@RichardDawkins Out of curiosity, do you think your gender/colour/class has given you privilege in your life?

Richard Dawkins ‏@RichardDawkins 8 hours ago
@TheRationaliser I don’t know, but my first class education probably has.

Really? He doesn’t know? At all?

I get that the word “privilege” gets thrown around too much, and has become both stale and belligerent, but none of that means that there is nothing to it at all. How can Dawkins simply not know if his being male and white and upper middle class has given him any privilege?

How, for instance, does he think he came by his first class education? The very label – first class – acknowledges that it’s not universal, so how does he think it happened that he got it when others didn’t?

The things are all joined up. Class privilege has a massive impact on what sort of education one gets, in many ways. It means growing up with literate parents who value education, for instance. It means having parents who know how to work the system. It means money to pay for books and private schools. It means having connections. White privilege and male privilege are pervasive in the same way.

It seems strange to be wholly in the dark about all that.

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There go the honorary degrees

Dec 31st, 2015 11:33 am | By

TIME magazine lists some people and institutions that have cut ties with Bill Cosby.

Spelman College. In July, the historically black women’s college discontinued its endowed professorship with Cosby, who donated $20 million in 1988. The school had suspended the program in 2014 before terminating it completely.

CAA. The comedian’s talent agency, which had represented him since 2012, dropped him in late 2014.

New York University. In September, university officials removed“William H. Cosby” from the title of its Future Filmmakers Workshop.

NBC ditched a sitcom. A cable network dropped Cosby Show reruns.

Drexel University. The Philadelphia school revoked Cosby’s honorary degree in November.

The University of Pittsburgh. “Based on a unanimous recommendation from the University Committee for honorary degree recipients, the University of Pittsburgh has rescinded the honorary doctor of humane letters degree awarded to Bill Cosby in 2002 at the commencement ceremony on Pitt’s Johnstown campus,” the school announced in November.

Jerry Seinfeld and David Letterman. In July, both of the comedians asked for their endorsements to be removed from a 2014 Cosby biography titled Cosby: His Life and Times.

Drew University. The New Jersey university voted in October to revoke Cosby’s honorary degree.

Brown University. The Ivy League institution rescinded Cosby’s honorary degree in September. “It has become clear,” wrote Brown President Christina Paxson, “by his own admission in legal depositions that became public this summer, that Mr. Cosby has engaged in conduct with women that is contrary to the values of Brown.”

Disney removed a statue of him from a theme park.

Fordham University. In September, the New York City university’s Board of Trustees unanimously voted to rescind Cosby’s honorary degree. It was the first time Fordham ever revoked the honor.

Tufts University. The Massachusetts school announced in October that it was rescinding Cosby’s honorary doctorate of arts.

Goucher College. Cosby had received an honorary degree in 2001 when he was the school’s commencement speaker. In October, it was rescinded.

Oh well, there’s always the barbecue sauce.

Posted in Notes and Comment Blog | 5 comments