Sunday, December 31, 2017
Saturday, December 30, 2017
Marvin Miller belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame
This is probably a strange post for a public policy blog but this is about the head of a union that deserves appreciation from the people he ably served. Around this time every year, there is always debates on who should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame. There are players that have had exceptional careers like Fred McGriff, Tommy John, Luis Tiant, Jim Kaat, Harold Baines, and Thurman Munson that have not been elected yet despite players with comparable careers having made it. The same can be said for managers like Billy Martin or Davey Johnson who were consistent winners for different teams. There will be continual debate whether Pete Rose, because if his career as a player, should finally be let in the Hall. However, there is one person who has been denied that every ballplayer since the 1960's owes a debt of gratitude. That person is Marvin Miller, the former head of the Major League Baseball's Players Association. Every baseball player who played the game since the late 1960's should go to where Miller is buried and kiss hid gravestone because the salaries and benefits baseball players have then and today can be traced to this one head of baseball's players union and his ability to help break the backs of the reserve clause that paved the way for free agency. A person with that much influence in the game and in labor history deserves a plaque in Cooperstown. The Veterans Committee should show their appreciation the next time Miller's name comes up. It is only right.
Friday, December 29, 2017
Idea of the Week: Paid Family Leave
It is time to help all Families with paid family leave when there are periods of need. This would not replace paid sick or vacation days most major employers provide. This can be funded by a small percentage of a persons paycheck to go into this "emergency fund" and indexed according to the size of the business and the time a person needs to take off. This would be an addendum to the Family Leave Act of 1993.
Movie of the Week
Steven Spielberg's "The Post" which is a historical drama on the release of the Pentagon Papers that revealed to the country our government's mistakes and ulterior motives for getting involved in the Vietnam War.
DVD of the week
Both versions of the television series Cosmos narrated by Carl Sagan and Neil deGrasse Tyson. both series show that we are just members of the chorus in this vast Universe. A MUST WATCH.
https://www.netflix.com/title/80004448
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081846/
https://www.netflix.com/title/80004448
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081846/
My Books for the Year
Service-Learning and Social Justice: Engaging Students in Social Change Mar 15, 2010
by Susan Benigni Cipolle
Historical Literacy: The Case for History in American Education edited by Paul Gagnon
by Susan Benigni Cipolle
Historical Literacy: The Case for History in American Education edited by Paul Gagnon
Jean Jacques Rousseau's Emile
Michael Shnayerson's 2008 Coal River.
Robert Kaplan The Coming Anarchy, The Revenge of Geography, Balkan Ghosts, Warrior Politics, Eastward to Tartary, and Mediterranean Winter
Naomi Klein No is Not Enough, This Changes Everything and The Shock Doctrine
David Fromkin A Peace to End All Peace and In the Time of the Americans
Margaret McMillan 1919
One Nation After Trump: A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet Deported by E.J. Dionne Jr. (Author), Norman J. Ornstein (Author), Thomas E. Mann (Author)
Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming
by Paul Hawken (Editor), Tom Steyer (Foreword)
The four-volume Robert Caro series on Lyndon Johnson and the Carl Solberg biography of Hubert Humphrey.
The Prince and Discourses by Machiavelli
Who Stole the American Dream, Rethinking America, and The Power Game by Hedrick Smith
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Naomi Klein No is Not Enough, This Changes Everything and The Shock Doctrine
David Fromkin A Peace to End All Peace and In the Time of the Americans
Margaret McMillan 1919
One Nation After Trump: A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet Deported by E.J. Dionne Jr. (Author), Norman J. Ornstein (Author), Thomas E. Mann (Author)
by Paul Hawken (Editor), Tom Steyer (Foreword)
The four-volume Robert Caro series on Lyndon Johnson and the Carl Solberg biography of Hubert Humphrey.
The Prince and Discourses by Machiavelli
Who Stole the American Dream, Rethinking America, and The Power Game by Hedrick Smith
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
To the denier that thinks climate change is not real: please read the below links from Vox
Editorial Video on Fact Checking courtesy of VOX, Now This, CNN, and the Presidents latest interview with the New York Times: YOU JUDGE
https://www.facebook.com/Vox/videos/815402721980665/
https://www.facebook.com/NowThisPolitics/videos/1848991711798977/
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/12/29/16829806/trump-interview-new-york-times?utm_campaign=vox&utm_content=entry&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/29/politics/donald-trump-new-york-times/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/29/politics/donald-trump-approval-rating/index.html
https://www.facebook.com/NowThisPolitics/videos/1848991711798977/
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/12/29/16829806/trump-interview-new-york-times?utm_campaign=vox&utm_content=entry&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/29/politics/donald-trump-new-york-times/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/29/politics/donald-trump-approval-rating/index.html
Thursday, December 28, 2017
No Virginia, there was never a War On Christmas.
No Virginia, there was never a War on Christmas.
The objective facts are no, people have not warred on the holiday. What some misguided people object to is the stating of neutral phrases like "Seasons Greetings" and "Happy Holidays" this time of year. In a multicultural nation such as ours where a significant portion are not Christian, this is a perfectly sensible thing to say. What these people (who probably do not realize that December 25 is not the actual birthday of Joshua ben Joseph (Jesus Christ for those who need the Greek translation)) should fight is the war on mainstream Christian (and universal) values from the likes of the extreme elements of the Republican Party led by our President against the all those that can not fight for themselves. That is the war that should be fought. It should not be fought according to how many times you said "Merry Christmas" every December.
https://www.snopes.com/2017/12/27/trump-obama-war-on-christmas/
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/22/politics/donald-trump-war-on-christmas/index.html
The objective facts are no, people have not warred on the holiday. What some misguided people object to is the stating of neutral phrases like "Seasons Greetings" and "Happy Holidays" this time of year. In a multicultural nation such as ours where a significant portion are not Christian, this is a perfectly sensible thing to say. What these people (who probably do not realize that December 25 is not the actual birthday of Joshua ben Joseph (Jesus Christ for those who need the Greek translation)) should fight is the war on mainstream Christian (and universal) values from the likes of the extreme elements of the Republican Party led by our President against the all those that can not fight for themselves. That is the war that should be fought. It should not be fought according to how many times you said "Merry Christmas" every December.
https://www.snopes.com/2017/12/27/trump-obama-war-on-christmas/
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/22/politics/donald-trump-war-on-christmas/index.html
The President has spent just as much time at his golf courses in the first year of his Presidency than the number of bills he has signed in that same span. So much for being too busy to play golf.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-signed-fewest-bills-law-claiming-opposite-nonpartisan/story?id=52026698&cid=share_facebook_widget
https://www.npr.org/2017/12/27/573546883/trump-signed-96-laws-in-2017-here-is-what-they-do-and-how-they-measure-up?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-has-trump-golfed-gone-to-mar-a-lago-2017-12
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
The Republican Party is still on pace to land in the dustbin
A political party whose leading members have recently called for a purging of the Justice Department and F.B.I. officials who oppose the President and whose supporters believe the lying proclamations of the that same President is on its way to irrelevance in the fringes of society and history's dustbin.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/27/politics/francis-rooney-fbi-russia-cnntv/index.html
https://www.vox.com/2017/12/27/16822748/republicans-trump-repeal-obamacare
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/27/politics/francis-rooney-fbi-russia-cnntv/index.html
https://www.vox.com/2017/12/27/16822748/republicans-trump-repeal-obamacare
Editorial Poster courtesy of Occupy Democrats
Remember when he said on the campaign trail that he would be too busy to play golf and criticized Obama for playing it too much.
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
The Progressive fire is catching on
Yippee for Democrats and Progressives for putting up candidates in 415 out of the 435 House of Representative seats for next year. There is still 20 to go and lets hope this surge in the House is imitated in the Senate, the governorships, and other state and local offices. This is how a succesful 50 state strategy gets started. Good luck Progressives in 2018.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/24/us/democrats-house-control-2018-midterms.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/24/us/democrats-house-control-2018-midterms.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0
Call to Action: What do politicians have to hide when they get dark money?
Citizens/Voters should know who contributes to a politicians political campaign, be it a average citizen, a Fortune 500 entrepreneaur, a union, a lobbying firm, a member of a radical organization, or intermediaries of a foreign government. There is no reason why there should be dark money. Voters should beware the politicians that do not reveal the sources of their campaign contributions. It generally means that they have something to hide that is unfavorable to their electoral chances. Please read the link below and get out the word to get rid of Dark Money.
http://blogforarizona.net/campaign-to-outlaw-dirty-money-with-a-right-to-know-initiative/
http://blogforarizona.net/campaign-to-outlaw-dirty-money-with-a-right-to-know-initiative/
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The SNL Cold Open for the 2024 Election Race and the Latest Ads from the Harris/Walz Campaign and The Lincoln Project
Enjoy the latest ads from the Harris/Walz Campaign and The Lincoln Project. They focus on Republicans supporting Harris, Trump's coward...
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64kRrswVn6g
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From the end of World One until the end of his Fascist government Benito Mussolini used bands of Squadristi (also known as Black Shirts) ...