 |
| DAYLEE PICTURE: Simmering volcanos in Indonesia. From the Daily Mail of the UK |
Friday, March 25, 2016
TODAY'S BIG NUGGET: HUGE HISTORY NOTE
Nixon Aide Reportedly Admitted Drug War Was Meant To Target Black People from the Huffington Post
GREAT WORK from Harpers Magazine on Nixon's "War on Drugs"!!
The money quote from John Ehrlichman in 1994:
“You want to know what this was really all about?” he asked with the bluntness of a man who, after public disgrace and a stretch in federal prison, had little left to protect. “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”
GREAT WORK from Harpers Magazine on Nixon's "War on Drugs"!!
The money quote from John Ehrlichman in 1994:
“You want to know what this was really all about?” he asked with the bluntness of a man who, after public disgrace and a stretch in federal prison, had little left to protect. “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”
ISIS Losing on Most Fronts
Will the Islamic State survive 2016? from Al-Monitor
"If IS continues to lose territory at the same pace, some people believe the year 2016 could well be its last. But experts are maintaining a cautious optimism in agreeing with this prediction, which is frequently voiced by Iraqi decision-makers."
"If IS continues to lose territory at the same pace, some people believe the year 2016 could well be its last. But experts are maintaining a cautious optimism in agreeing with this prediction, which is frequently voiced by Iraqi decision-makers."
ISIS in Retreat
In Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State is in retreat on multiple fronts from the Washington Post
"These are just two of the many fronts in both countries where the militants are being squeezed, stretched and pushed back. Nowhere are they on the attack. They have not embarked on a successful offensive in nearly nine months. Their leaders are dying in U.S. strikes at the rate of one every three days, inhibiting their ability to launch attacks, according to U.S. military officials."
"These are just two of the many fronts in both countries where the militants are being squeezed, stretched and pushed back. Nowhere are they on the attack. They have not embarked on a successful offensive in nearly nine months. Their leaders are dying in U.S. strikes at the rate of one every three days, inhibiting their ability to launch attacks, according to U.S. military officials."
Why these terror attacks keep happening ... in Europe
Is America Next? (Daniel Benjamin) from Politico
"I’ll make no guarantees, but there’s a reason these terror attacks keep happening in Europe. ... So if an explosion propels shattered glass and broken bodies in a Brussels airport, we instinctively expect it to happen here next. We shouldn’t. While the jihadist threat is genuinely global, it is by no means equally distributed. ... there are individuals in the United States who are prepared to commit violence against other Americans. But the European context underlying the attacks at Brussels Airport and the downtown Maelbeek subway station—one of alienated, underemployed and ghettoized Muslims as well as subpar security differs dramatically from anything found in the United States."
"I’ll make no guarantees, but there’s a reason these terror attacks keep happening in Europe. ... So if an explosion propels shattered glass and broken bodies in a Brussels airport, we instinctively expect it to happen here next. We shouldn’t. While the jihadist threat is genuinely global, it is by no means equally distributed. ... there are individuals in the United States who are prepared to commit violence against other Americans. But the European context underlying the attacks at Brussels Airport and the downtown Maelbeek subway station—one of alienated, underemployed and ghettoized Muslims as well as subpar security differs dramatically from anything found in the United States."
Obama blazes a path for Cuba's future ... and for his own
Obama's Cuban revolution from Politico
"In Havana, the president blazes a path for Cuba's future and his own. ... With his decision to move toward normalized relations with the Castro regime, Obama forced a geopolitical transformation, the rare instance when a president can start and nearly finish so complete a change in foreign policy all within his own time in office. And he did it less with a pen and a phone and more with a series of prods and the force of his personality."
"In Havana, the president blazes a path for Cuba's future and his own. ... With his decision to move toward normalized relations with the Castro regime, Obama forced a geopolitical transformation, the rare instance when a president can start and nearly finish so complete a change in foreign policy all within his own time in office. And he did it less with a pen and a phone and more with a series of prods and the force of his personality."
The Astounding Legacy of a Pragmatic President
Obama in Cuba, and the astounding legacy of a pragmatic president (Emily L. Hauser) from The Week
"There are days on which this old woman looks at her young president's record, and all but falls out of her chair. The foregoing is but a partial list, missing many things Obama has accomplished or advanced that were, as far as I once knew, impossible or pretty near. The beautiful thing, of course, is that you don't actually have to be old to see it — you just have to be paying attention. Thanks, Obama."
"There are days on which this old woman looks at her young president's record, and all but falls out of her chair. The foregoing is but a partial list, missing many things Obama has accomplished or advanced that were, as far as I once knew, impossible or pretty near. The beautiful thing, of course, is that you don't actually have to be old to see it — you just have to be paying attention. Thanks, Obama."
Obama's "New Alliance" for the Americas
Obama’s Cuba visit is latest step towards ‘new alliance of the Americas’ from the Guardian [of the UK]
"The first visit to Cuba in 88 years by a US president comes as South America undergoes radical political change. ... Even after Obama entered the White House, many doubted he would fare any better than his predecessors in winning the hearts and minds of his regional neighbours. The nerdy northern president looked like a soft touch compared with the caudillo hard-men of the south. Fast forward eight years, however, and it is undoubtedly Obama’s vision that is in the ascendant.e-of-americas"
"The first visit to Cuba in 88 years by a US president comes as South America undergoes radical political change. ... Even after Obama entered the White House, many doubted he would fare any better than his predecessors in winning the hearts and minds of his regional neighbours. The nerdy northern president looked like a soft touch compared with the caudillo hard-men of the south. Fast forward eight years, however, and it is undoubtedly Obama’s vision that is in the ascendant.e-of-americas"
A Foreign-policy Debate that is Divorced from Reality
Where in the World Are We? (Joseph Nye) from Democracy Journal
"In the aftermath of the Great Recession, a majority of Americans believed that China was about to overtake the United States. The result is a foreign-policy debate that is often divorced from reality. Yes, the Middle East is in turmoil, and American influence has diminished. But the causes are the revolutions in the Middle East, not American decline, and conditions in the rest of the world are far more propitious. It is a mistake to generalize from the Middle East to the rest of the world. While the United States has many domestic problems, America is not an empire in decline like ancient Rome ..."
"In the aftermath of the Great Recession, a majority of Americans believed that China was about to overtake the United States. The result is a foreign-policy debate that is often divorced from reality. Yes, the Middle East is in turmoil, and American influence has diminished. But the causes are the revolutions in the Middle East, not American decline, and conditions in the rest of the world are far more propitious. It is a mistake to generalize from the Middle East to the rest of the world. While the United States has many domestic problems, America is not an empire in decline like ancient Rome ..."
GOP Foreign Policy Rifts will Last Long After 2016
The GOP's New Foreign-Policy Populism (Jacob Heilbrunn) from the National Interest
"Whether the GOP will actually nominate Trump or Cruz is an open question. But the rift that they have opened up within the conservative movement over the true faith is not going away any time soon."
"Whether the GOP will actually nominate Trump or Cruz is an open question. But the rift that they have opened up within the conservative movement over the true faith is not going away any time soon."
What Are the Finns Doing in Their Schools?!
Why Finland has the best schools from the Los Angeles Times
"... for five months, my wife, my son and I experienced a stunningly stress-free, and stunningly good, school system. ... Finland doesn't waste time or money on low-quality mass standardized testing. Instead, children are assessed every day, through direct observation, check-ins and quizzes by the highest-quality “personalized learning device” ever created — flesh-and-blood teachers."
"... for five months, my wife, my son and I experienced a stunningly stress-free, and stunningly good, school system. ... Finland doesn't waste time or money on low-quality mass standardized testing. Instead, children are assessed every day, through direct observation, check-ins and quizzes by the highest-quality “personalized learning device” ever created — flesh-and-blood teachers."
How and Why Senate Republicans Might Change Course on the SCOTUS Nominee
Four scenarios that could still put Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court from the Washington Post
"... with the caveat that all of this or none of this could happen, here are four scenarios that could make Senate Republicans switch course and consider Obama's Supreme Court nominee, ranked in order of most to least likely."
"... with the caveat that all of this or none of this could happen, here are four scenarios that could make Senate Republicans switch course and consider Obama's Supreme Court nominee, ranked in order of most to least likely."
WaPo American Electorate Series Pt 1
The Great Unsettling Pt 1 (David Maraniss and Robert Samuels) from the Washington Post
The "Nonreligious" and Young People
How Will Young People Choose Their Religion? from the Atlantic
"Introducing our special project on the changing nature of beliefs and practices among teens, 20-, and 30-somethings. In the United States, fewer young Americans identify as religious or attend regular services than members of any other living generation. People in their 20s and early 30s account for more than a third of the country’s “nones,” an academic nickname for the religiously disaffiliated. Religion is no longer the mode through which many people live their lives, and this relatively new state of affairs affects even those who remain religious: It opens up the possibility of beliefs and practices that are not simply inherited, but actively chosen."
"Introducing our special project on the changing nature of beliefs and practices among teens, 20-, and 30-somethings. In the United States, fewer young Americans identify as religious or attend regular services than members of any other living generation. People in their 20s and early 30s account for more than a third of the country’s “nones,” an academic nickname for the religiously disaffiliated. Religion is no longer the mode through which many people live their lives, and this relatively new state of affairs affects even those who remain religious: It opens up the possibility of beliefs and practices that are not simply inherited, but actively chosen."
The Advanced Age of the Fox News Audience Says A Lot About ... the GOP and its Problems
Republicans are old and getting older. That’s a huge problem for the GOP (Reihan Salam) from Slate
"My lack of interest in Fox News makes sense, though, when you realize that it isn’t a channel for Republicans. It’s a network for old people. As of the end of last year, the primetime median age of Fox News viewers was 68. Mind you, I’m not particularly young. I’m deep into my 30s, and I’m profoundly unhip. ... The advanced age of the Fox News audience tells you everything you need to know about the topics it covers, the look of its most prominent personalities, and its many advertisements for pharmaceutical solutions for older gentlemen who still like to get it on."
"My lack of interest in Fox News makes sense, though, when you realize that it isn’t a channel for Republicans. It’s a network for old people. As of the end of last year, the primetime median age of Fox News viewers was 68. Mind you, I’m not particularly young. I’m deep into my 30s, and I’m profoundly unhip. ... The advanced age of the Fox News audience tells you everything you need to know about the topics it covers, the look of its most prominent personalities, and its many advertisements for pharmaceutical solutions for older gentlemen who still like to get it on."
Clinton and her allies prepare for Trump
Here comes the REAL Trump Opposition Book from the Washington Post
"They are now focused intently on researching the billionaire real estate mogul’s business record, dissecting his economic policies and compiling a long history of controversial pronouncements that have captivated and repelled the nation in this tumultuous election season."
"They are now focused intently on researching the billionaire real estate mogul’s business record, dissecting his economic policies and compiling a long history of controversial pronouncements that have captivated and repelled the nation in this tumultuous election season."
The GOP's Lose-Lose Election Season
Nominating Donald Trump will end the Republican Party as we know it. So will not nominating him (Jonah Goldberg) from the Los Angeles Times
"... he's right that if he's denied the nomination, many – not all, but many – of his supporters will bolt from the convention and the party. Left out of Trump's unsubtle threat: Many anti-Trump Republicans will desert the convention and the party if he's not denied the nomination. ... To wit: This ends in tears no matter what. Get over it and pick a side."
Goldberg is one of the loudest neo-con right-wing pundits out there -- and this is probably the FIRST time I have whole-heartedly agreed with him on anything! But here it is! -- Nuggetsman
"... he's right that if he's denied the nomination, many – not all, but many – of his supporters will bolt from the convention and the party. Left out of Trump's unsubtle threat: Many anti-Trump Republicans will desert the convention and the party if he's not denied the nomination. ... To wit: This ends in tears no matter what. Get over it and pick a side."
Goldberg is one of the loudest neo-con right-wing pundits out there -- and this is probably the FIRST time I have whole-heartedly agreed with him on anything! But here it is! -- Nuggetsman
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)