It is currently Thu Nov 07, 2024 10:58 pm
-
- Topics
- Posts
- Last post
-
-
Section 1 – General Info + Info Re Next Meeting
.
*****
NEXT MEETING
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO THE NINTH (FIRST UNNUMBERED) SECTION BELOW FOR INFORMATION ABOUT OUR NEXT MEETING.
*****
WHO/WHAT WE ARE
We are a U.S. public-policy monthly discussion group founded in the Fall of 2005 that meets on the third Wednesday of each month (with adjustments to avoid secular/religious holidays).
Since February 2020, we have met via Zoom. [For the first 14.5 years of our existence, we met at the Salt Lake City Library (210 East 400 South) with remote participation via Skype.]
The topic is selected by the attendees of the previous month’s meeting. The focus is usually a book but frequently comprises only news items from magazines/newspapers/etc. This bulletin board serves, inter alia, as a place for members to post comments or additional reference materials prior to each meeting.
Our attendance averages 11-12. Participants come from all walks of life but our regular attendees include 4 attorneys and 3 scientists.
There are approx. 225 recipients of our weekly newsletter, many of whom reside outside Utah and participate by Zoom.
*****
40 SIX-DEGREES-OF-SEPARATION E-MAIL CAMPAIGNS, 4 REPORTS & 9 REPRISES
We take great pride in our Six-Degrees-Of-Separation E-mail campaigns to America's decision makers which, with only a few computer keyboard key strokes, can be sent by each of our members (1) to the decision maker, and (2) to all of the member's friends and acquaintances requesting them to do the same in an unending chain.
Accordingly, we also take great pride that each of our official recommendations has been approved unanimously at one of our meetings or, at most, received only one dissent.
All 40 e-mail campaigns over the years are collected in this section. They include 10 e-mails sent by John Karls that did not receive an official endorsement for the rest of our members to send. The titles of the 30 official recommendations are ALL CAPS and the titles of 10 unofficial recommendations are lower case.
The date of the meeting at which each of the 40 campaigns was adopted is listed so that voluminous additional information about that campaign can be accessed by scrolling down to the sections of this bulletin board that relate to that meeting.
In addition, there are four items whose descriptions begin with “REPORT.” They are reports of our Great Salt Lake Working Group which was formed IAW our “Short-Time Fuse” procedures described in the next section of this bulletin board.
There is also a 1/20/2021 “Report” of our JCPOA Working Group.
Finally, there are eight items whose descriptions begin with “REPRISE.” They describe additional actions that were taken IAW previous official e-mail campaigns to bring their approved policies to the attention of additional decision makers.
*****
SIGNING UP FOR OUR WEEKLY E-MAIL
If you would like to receive our weekly newsletter, please send an e-mail to ReadingLiberally-SaltLake@johnkarls.com with a subject, “Please Add Me To Weekly E-mail List.”
*****
SIGNING UP TO POST ON THIS BULLETIN BOARD
Due to sabotage and porn attacks, only attendees of one or more of our meetings are permitted to post on this bulletin board.
If you have attended one of our meetings and would like to register to post something, please send an E-mail to ReadingLiberally-SaltLake@johnkarls.com with the subject, “Please Register Me For The Bulletin Board.” - 59 Topics
- 89 Posts
-
Last post
7/17/24 - Adverse Impacts of …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Section 2 – “General Info” Addendum
.
*****
HOW TO USE THIS BULLETIN BOARD
As an initial matter, there is a primitive search capability (single key word only) in the upper righthand corner.
The first 7 sections of this Bulletin Board are numbered –
Section 1 – General Info & Info Regarding Next Meeting
Section 2 – “General Info” Addendum
Section 3 – Possible Topics for Future Meetings
Section 4 – Legal Briefs, Etc. – Inner-City Holocaust and America’s Apartheid “Justice” System (In Honor of Jonathan Kozol and in Memory of John Howard Griffin)
Section 5 – Addendum – Inner-City Holocaust and America’s Apartheid “Justice” System
Section 6 – National Audubon Society Executes Great Salt Lake Death Warrant
Section 7 – Addendum – National Audubon Society Executes Great Salt Lake Death Warrant
After Section 7, the sections are no longer numbered.
They comprise clusters of sections relating to each meeting, most recent meeting first all the way back to 8/2/2007 when our Bulletin Board was inaugurated (our organization itself began in the Fall of 2005).
[Each cluster typically comprises sections labelled Discussion Outline, Original Proposal, Participant Comments, and Reference Materials.]
BTW, CLICKING ON SECTION 1 ACCESSES ALL OF OUR 40-PLUS E-MAIL CAMPAIGNS OVER THE YEARS TO OUR NATION’S DECISION MAKERS – PLEASE NOTE THAT THE TITLES OF THE E-MAIL CAMPAIGNS BEGIN WITH THE DATE OF THE MEETING AT WHICH THE CAMPAIGN WAS ADOPTED – ACCORDINGLY, A WEALTH OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT EACH CAMPAIGN CAN BE ACCESSED BY SCROLLING DOWN TO THE CLUSTER OF SECTIONS PERTAINING TO THAT MEETING.
IN THIS REGARD, Section 1 contains 6 items since 9/20/2017 marked “REPRISE” relating to Global Warming and Thorium. Their background materials are collected in the third of 12 postings in Section 6 since they were produced by a Working Group during the sabbatical for writing a book on the Great Salt Lake Death Warrant.
Sections 4 and 5 contain the background documents for a book written during a Sabbatical that our organization took from 4/19/2014 to 2/11/2015 for John Karls to write about Inner-City Holocaust.
[There were 2 so-called Ad Hoc meetings during the Sabbatical that were not supported by Short Quizzes, Suggested Discussion Outlines, etc. Materials relating to those meetings appear in sequence in the unnumbered sections.]
Sections 6 and 7 contain background materials for a book written during a Sabbatical that our organization took from 6/14/2018 to 7/31/2019 for John Karls to write a book about the Great Salt Lake Death Warrant.
[Section 6 also contains materials about 3 so-called Ad Hoc meetings that occurred during the sabbatical AND ABOUT POLITICAL CENSORSHIP BY MAJOR E-MAIL PROVIDERS THAT PREVENTED 2 ADDITIONAL AD HOC MEETINGS AND CONTINUES TO PLAGUE OUR ORGANIZATION.]
*****
UNTIL WE ARE ABLE TO COPE SUCCESSFULLY WITH THE REFUSAL OF MAJOR E-MAIL PROVIDERS TO DELIVER OUT WEEKLY E-MAILS TO OUR APPROXIMATELY 150 MEMBERS, THE MINIMUM QUORUM FOR MEETINGS IS SUSPENDED.
[In other words, George Kunath and I (John Karls) will discuss each focus book at the scheduled time whether or not anyone else has even learned about the meeting. George is one of my former NYC partners with whom I have had a weekly multi-hour gabfest for 31.5 years; George was our worldwide coordinating tax partner on Mobil Oil and on a major private equity firm. George has participated in our meetings for nearly a decade by Skype.]
[Though please RSVP to ReadingLiberally-SaltLake@johnkarls.org if you plan to participate since the RSVP’s can, by unanimous vote, change the venue to suit their convenience.]
HOWEVER, IN ORDER TO PRESERVE THE INTEGRITY OF OUR E-MAIL CAMPAIGNS TO THE NATION’S DECISION MAKERS, THE MINIMUM QUORUM OF 6 WILL STILL APPLY TO INITIATE SUCH CAMPAIGNS.
CLICKING ON THIS SECTION ACCESSES MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE REFUSAL OF MAJOR E-MAIL PROVIDERS TO DELIVER OUR WEEKLY E-MAILS. - 4 Topics
- 11 Posts
-
Last post
Administrative Post
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Section 3 – Possible Topics for Future Meetings
.
Click here to view possible topics for future meetings. Participants of each monthly meeting vote for the topic of the next monthly meeting.
If you would like to suggest a topic, it is requested as a courtesy that your suggestion be posted here at least 24 hours in advance so that others will have time to give it proper consideration.
EXPIRATION. We have always had a rule that a Possible Topic remains active so long as it receives at least one vote every six meetings. However, if a possible-topic proposal contains a wealth of information that is worth preserving but has not received a vote for six consecutive meetings, it is retained but listed as “Expired."
**********************
SHORT-FUSE NOTICE
*****
EXPLANATION
Occasionally, a Proposed Topic for Future Meetings has a SHORT-TIME FUSE because a governmental unit is soliciting PUBLIC COMMENTS for a limited time period with a SPECIFIED DEADLINE.
Exhibit A would be the 8/5/2016 Proposed Topic entitled “Clone Rights -- Involuntary Soldiers, Sex Slaves, Human Lab Rats, Etc.”
We had already focused on this topic for our 4/9/2008 meeting more than 8 years ago when the PBS Newshour interviewed a Yale U. Biology Professor who had already created a “Chimaera” with 25% Human DNA and 75% Chimp DNA (Chimps are the animals that share the most DNA with humans).
The Yale U. Biology Professor stated that he was then (2008) in the process of creating a “Chimaera” with 50% Human DNA and 50% Chimp DNA, and that he planned to create in the near future (2008 et seq.) a “Chimaera” with 75% Human DNA and 25% Chimp DNA.
As our 4/9/2008 meeting materials posted on http://www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org disclose, Gwen Ifill who conducted the interview, was oblivious to the issue of the Nazi’s definition of a Jew based on the percentage of Jewish heritage and the Ante-Bellum American South’s definition of African-American based on the percentage of Sub-Saharan-African heritage.
But, even more appallingly, Gwen Ifill failed to ask the obvious question = What happens if the 50%-50% “Chimaera” then already being created happens to exhibit as DOMINANT TRAITS 100% Human DNA and as RECESSIVE TRAITS 100% Chimp DNA!!! Which, of course, would mean that Yale U. was treating as a lab rat a “Chimaera” that is 100% Human!!!
Unfortunately, the 8/5/2016 Proposed Topic was prompted by a Proposal from the National Institute of Health (NIH) which appeared in The Federal Register of 8/5/2016 and which had a 9/6/2016 deadline for public comments!!!
So our 9/14/2016 meeting, which was the first for which our focus had not already been determined as of 8/5/2016 under our normal rules, was too late.
So the reason for inaugurating this Short-Fuse Notice Section is to provide a Special Heads Up that a Proposed Topic has a Public-Comment Deadline that will occur before the first regular meeting date at which the topic can be discussed -- so that any of our readers who want to comply with the Public-Comment Deadline can contact the Proposer of the Topic in order to confer with anyone else who may be considering comments by the deadline.
*****
PENDING SHORT-FUSE PROPOSALS
1. Re “Clone Rights -- Involuntary Soldiers, Sex Slaves, Human Lab Rats, Etc.” (proposed 8/5/2016), although the 9/6/2016 public-comment deadline of the National Institute of Health (NIH) has passed, this Topic Proposal is still active. PLEASE NOTE ATTACHED TO THIS PROPOSAL THE 1/29/2017 UPDATE ENTITLED0 “HUMAN-PIG CHIMERAS -- DECENT BEHAVIOR DESPITE OPEN BARN DOOR.”
2. Re “Destroying Great Salt Lake To Grow Low-Profit Hay For China” (proposed 9/27/2016), there is a 10/24/2016 public-comment deadline that will occur before our first possible regular meeting (11/16/2016) at which this Proposed Topic could be considered. - 27 Topics
- 78 Posts
-
Last post
NYC Harvard Club Book Promoti…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Section 4 – Legal Briefs, Etc. – Inner-City Holocaust and America's Apartheid "Justice" System (In Honor of Jonathan Kozol and In Memory of John Howard Griffin)
“Inner-City Holocaust and America’s Apartheid ‘Justice’ System” is a book that “Yours Truly” has (except for the final chapter) already written and placed in safe hands. However, the last chapter cannot be written before Fall 2011 because it will record the actions taken, if any, by the recipients of the 5 letters whose texts are posted in this section (the casual reader would best start with the letters to Messrs. Axelrod/Plouffe and to Sen. Chris Coons) =
(1) to President Obama and 20 other US & California governmental officials imploring them AS THEY REFUSED TO DO LAST YEAR to cause Amicus Curiae briefs to be filed on behalf of 10 million inner-city children and thereby REPRESENT THEIR OWN CONSTITUENTS.
(2) to Gwen Ifill and 42 other news-media superstars imploring them AS THEY REFUSED TO DO LAST YEAR to provide the same kind of spotlight on the lawsuits involving the 10 million inner-city children that they routinely provide for, say, David Boies and his Proposition 8 lawsuits.
(3) to 51 inner-city clergy from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland CA providing the latest report on what the report described as “The Segregated Toilet and The Fatal Flush” – the “Segregated Toilet” being the abhorrent practice, even authorized by statute in California, that judges can flush away the rights of minorities in opinions THAT CANNOT BE PUBLISHED OR CITED because the judges know that the opinions are diametrically opposed to the well-settled law enjoyed by first-class American citizens.
(4) to Messrs. David Axelrod and David Plouffe, the Chicago- and Washington-based co-heads of President Obama’s Reelection Campaign providing them a “heads up” on what is “going down” because the aim of “Inner-City Holocaust” is to make the inaction of the 21 governmental officials an issue in any 2012 re-election campaigns in which they are involved – by making “Inner-City Holocaust” available without charge and electronically for ethics classes in law schools and divinity schools, and in undergraduate courses in political science, ethics/philosophy, sociology, etc.
(5) to U.S. Senator Christopher Coons from Delaware, newly elected last November, to provide him a “heads up” on what is “going down” because Senator Coons served with “Yours Truly” in the 1990’s on the national “I Have A Dream”® Board as Secretary and Treasurer, respectively, and it was IHAD- and IHAD-style programs that the $84 billion involved in the lawsuits was designed to provide for the 10-million inner-city children.
“Inner-City Holocaust” has been written In Memory Of John Howard Griffin whose “Black Like Me” half a century ago tried to convince America of its racism.
It is also written in honor of Jonathan Kozol whose award-winning books over the last half century have tried to convince America that it has created a permanent “untouchable” under-caste as a result of its racism – (1) The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America (2005); (2) Ordinary Resurrections: Children in the Years of Hope (2001); (3) Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation (1995); (4) Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools (1991); (5) Rachel and Her Children (1988); (6) Illiterate America (1985); (7) The Night is Dark and I Am Far From Home: Political Indictment of US Public Schools (1975); (8) Death at an Early Age (1967)
One might wonder why I am placing myself on the same stage as these two Saints. I’m not. They are on pedestals in my place of worship. Like one of Ghandi’s followers, it is my turn to have my head bashed in since the expected reactions to the prospect of “Inner-City Holocaust” are to try to defame me and to try to explain why the racism of the judges involved, the 21 governmental officials and the 43 news-media super-stars is all my fault rather than theirs. - 21 Topics
- 47 Posts
-
Last post
Texts - 6/13/11 SCt Petition …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Section 5 – Addendum - Inner-City Holocaust and America's Apartheid "Justice" System
.
The previous section of this bulletin board includes copies of 4 letters over 2 years to President Obama and 20 other US & California governmental officials imploring each to cause Amicus Curiae briefs to be filed on behalf of 10 million inner-city children. Each of the 4 letters, using President Obama as an example, began with:
Dear Mr. President:
Re: $84 Billion Legally Pledged For Education of Californian Inner-City Children Rapidly Slipping Away Due To Judicial Improprieties – AMICUS BRIEFS UNDER US SUPREME COURT RULE 37(2) NEEDED URGENTLY!!!
The previous section also includes copies of 4 letters over 2 years to 43 news-media superstars. Each of the 4 letters, using Gwen Ifill as an example, began with:
Dear Ms. Ifill:
Re: $84 Billion Legally Pledged For Education of Californian Inner-City Children Rapidly Slipping Away Due To Judicial Improprieties – EQUAL PROTECTION BY THE MEDIA URGENTLY NEEDED!!!
*****
“Equal Protection of the Media” recognizes that the only practical way to get the US Supreme Court to agree to hear an appeal is what David Boies always does vis-à-vis his litigation, such as his current gay-rights litigation = get the media to report on his cases. Indeed, the first letter to the 43 news-media superstars cited CNN broadcasts re the gay-rights litigation as trumpeting “the Supreme Court justices do not live in a vacuum -- they are influenced by media reporting in deciding whether an issue is so important that the Court should accept an appeal.”
*****
The letters informed the 21 governmental officials and 43 news-media superstars of the “Question Presented For Review” by the U.S. Supreme Court =
“Can state court judges order their decisions which they know are diametrically-opposed to well-settled law, not to be published or cited (a strategy labeled ‘the segregated toilet’ in correspondence with 51 inner-city clergy who represent the 10 million inner-city children who have been disclosed from the outset as the ‘real parties at interest’ in this law suit) in order to flush away the rights of the 10 million inner-city children without disturbing the rights of first-class American citizens -- without violating the ‘Equal Protection of the Law’ requirement of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution?”
*****
None of the 21 governmental officials or 43 news-media superstars did anything to save the 10 million inner-city children EVEN THOUGH EACH OF THEM KNEW THAT A SINGLE AMICUS BRIEF OR A SINGLE NEWS-MEDIA ITEM MIGHT HAVE BEEN SUFFICIENT TO SAVE THE CHILDREN.
*****
The previous section contains copies of reference materials through 6/15/2011 -- the date of the last set of letters to the 21 governmental officials and 43 news-media superstars to inform them that the Petition for Certiorari (request to agree to hear an appeal) had just been filed with the US Supreme Court.
This section of the bulletin board contains subsequent letters to --
Jonathan Kozol (6/22/11) to provide him a “heads up” that “Inner-City Holocaust and America’s Apartheid ‘Justice’ System” was being written in his honor.
Marcia Coyle (6/29/2011), the PBS News Hour’s regular Supreme Court reporter/analyst.
Marc Morial (7/28/2011), CEO of the National Urban League with a copy to his wife, Michelle Miller, CBS News super-star.
Also included is the final report to each of the 51 inner-city clergy from San Francisco, Los Angeles and Oakland who had been supporting the cause to (A) inform them that the US Supreme Court on 10/4/2011 refused to hear our appeal, (B) thank them for their efforts with the solace that each of us would be able to say at The Pearly Gates with St. Paul (II Timothy 4:7): “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” and (C) request them and their congregants to pray for the 43 news-media superstars, the 21 governmental officials, the California judges and the U.S. Supreme Court Justices, that MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON THEIR SOULS!!! - 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
6-22-2011 "Heads Up" to Jonat…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Section 6 – National Audubon Society Executes Great Salt Lake Death Warrant
.
This section includes the final report on the National Audubon Society plus the ad hoc meetings during the sabbatical described in the following e-mail.
-----------------------------------------------------
From: ReadingLiberally-SaltLake@johnkarls.com
To: ReadingLiberallyEmailList@johnkarls.com
Bcc: The Approximately 150 Recipients of Our Weekly E-mail
Subject: Another John Karls Sabbatical To Write Another Book
Date: [This Is The Regular Weekly E-mail To Be Sent Pre-Dawn Sat, June 16, 2018]
Attachments:
-----------------------------------------------------
Dear Friends,
Many of you will probably recall the 4/19/2014 notice 4 years ago that I would be taking a sabbatical to write a book about the materials in the third and fourth sections of http://www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org entitled “Inner-City Holocaust and America’s Apartheid ‘Justice’ System (In Honor of Jonathan Kozol and In Memory of John Howard Griffin).”
The time has come to write another book (this time on the topic of “The National Audubon Society Executes Great Salt Lake Death Warrant”) and, accordingly, I will be taking another sabbatical.
*****
Ad Hoc Meetings
As was the case 4 years ago, there may be Ad Hoc Meetings such as the 2 that occurred during that 9-month sabbatical.
If anyone would like to propose a topic for an Ad Hoc Meeting, please forward it to me and I will include it in the next Pre-Dawn Saturday E-mail (which may be irregular rather than weekly during the sabbatical if there are not a lot of proposals).
RSVP’s for the Wednesday evening 4-5 weeks after the Pre-Dawn Saturday E-mail containing the Ad Hoc Meeting proposal will be put in touch with the proposer.
If the minimum quorum for our regular meetings of 6 RSVP’s is attained, the group will have authority to issue one of our Six-Degrees-Of-Separation E-mail Campaigns. However, the normal promotional Short Quizzes, Suggested Discussion Outlines, etc., will not be provided.
*****
Short-Fuse Campaigns
As set forth on the face of the first section of http://www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org entitled “General Info and Info Re Next Meeting,” we have a Short Fuse Procedure for situations in which action would be required before the next meeting could be scheduled (for example, a governmental unit is soliciting public comments for a limited period).
In such cases, our Pre-Dawn Saturday E-mail invites all of our approximately 150 members to participate in a Short-Fuse Working Group.
This procedure will also be available during the sabbatical.
*****
Length of the Sabbatical
The 12 participants for our 6/13/2018 meeting were curious how long the sabbatical might last.
It is noted that the 2014 sabbatical 4 years ago lasted 9 months.
However, this time the events of the final chapter of the book to be written have yet to occur.
Your friend,
John K.
PS -- To un-subscribe, please press "reply" and type "deletion requested."
NB: Please do NOT block our e-mail because you are too embarrassed to request a deletion -- 10 of our approximately 150 regular e-mail recipients use Comcast.net which has an algorithm blocking all e-mails from a website for which a certain percentage of recipients have requested blockage AND 3 of our regular meeting attendees who use Comcast.net now can NOT receive our weekly e-mails.
[Posted 6/14/2018] - 13 Topics
- 47 Posts
-
Last post
Elizabeth Weight Biography pe…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
-
Section 7 – Addendum – National Audubon Society Executes Great Salt Lake Death Warrant
.
This section contains documents generated by our Great Salt Lake Working Group during the Spring of 2018 --
(1) A 3/31/2018 notice to all of our 150 members soliciting their participation in the revival of our Great Salt Lake Working Group.
(2) A 4/7/2018 e-mail to the Executive Director of the National Audubon Society’s Saline Lakes Program after she refused to meet with us but invited us to “please feel free to reach out to me with your questions.” As invited, our 4/7/2018 e-mail contained our questions. However, the Executive Director refused to answer any of them.
(3) A 4/24/2018 letter to National Audubon Society CEO David Yarnold (with a copy to the CEO General Counsel) describing all of the efforts of our Great Salt Lake Working Group 2016-2017 enclosing copies of the salient documents that were generated between 10/31/2016 and 4/5/2017. [The letter did NOT mention the behavior of the Executive Director of the Saline Lakes Program.] The stated purpose of the letter, since we had been the only organization to advocate litigation to save Great Salt Lake and the National Audubon Society had announced during the summer of 2017 that it would engage in such litigation though none had been instituted in the ensuing year, was “whether your organization would be willing to permit any donors we might solicit to make contributions directly into a special fund or restricted account that would only be used to finance the litigation.” The 4/24/2018 letter invited CEO David Yarnold and his General Counsel to breakfast or lunch at the Harvard Club of NYC on either Thursday May 10 or Friday May 11 to discuss this matter. Nothing has been heard from either CEO David Yarnold or his General Counsel.
(4) A 6/14/2018 letter to each of the Members of the Board of Directors of the National Audubon Society apprising them that CEO David Yarnold and his General Counsel refused to permit “ear marked” contributions and, as a result, John Karls was forced on Friday afternoon May 11 and Saturday morning May 12 to steer two friends, each of whom was ready to write an 8-figure check to charity, to other causes. - 4 Topics
- 7 Posts
-
Last post
Best Wishes For Your Sabbatic…
by Cal Burgart View the latest post
-
-
-
Section 8 – Working Groups Currently Underway
.
This section contains information about each of our so-called “Working Groups” that are currently underway.
During our 19 years of existence, we have had 5-6 so-called Working Groups whenever a particular policy issue (1) may require immediate action on the spur of the moment (rendering addressing it at the next regular monthly meeting impractical), and/or (2) may require long-term attention.
*****
Recent examples in the second category (“long-term attention”) are
(1) Our 2016-2018 Working Group to oppose the Destruction/Extinction of Great Salt Lake to grow alfalfa hay to feed Chinese cows, and
(2) Our 2018-2019 Thorium-Fission Working Group to solve global warming 100% in short order WITHOUT having to invade other countries militarily (such as China to prevent it from bringing on stream another monster-size coal-fired electric-generation plant EVERY WEEK) when the only economic green-energy source is nuclear (which even Bill Gates recognizes) and it is 100% safe if the fuel is thorium which is incapable of exploding so it cannot be used to produce a bomb, and which does NOT even need cooling systems or containment chambers.
*****
APPALLING example in the first (“short-fuse”) category --
The need for Working Groups in the first category was first recognized more than 12 years ago -- as described on the face of this bulletin board for Sec. 3 entitled “Possible Topics for Future Meetings” in the portion entitled “SHORT-FUSE NOTICE” describing, inter alia, the Yale University Biology Department’s creation of “Chimeras” with 50% human DNA and 50% Chimp DNA and PLANS TO CREATE “Chimeras” with 75% human DNA and 25% Chimp DNA.
Appallingly, this information was brought to our attention by a report on the PBS Newshour comprising an interview of a Yale Biology Prof. by Gwen Ifill, Co-Anchor and Managing Editor of the PBS NewsHour.
(1) “Appallingly” because Gwen Ifill who conducted the interview, was oblivious to the issue of the Nazi’s definition of a Jew based on the percentage of Jewish heritage and the Ante-Bellum American South’s definition of African-American based on the percentage of Sub-Saharan-African heritage.
(2) But, even more “appallingly,” Gwen Ifill failed to ask the obvious question = What happens if the 50%-50% “Chimaera” then already created happens to exhibit as DOMINANT TRAITS 100% Human DNA and as RECESSIVE TRAITS 100% Chimp DNA!!! Which, of course, would mean that Yale U. was treating as a lab rat a “Chimaera” that is 100% Human!!!
Gwen Ifill’s report of the Yale Biology Department’s Human/Chimp “Chimeras” was the topic of our 4/9/2008 meeting for which attendees were required to watch “The Island” – a 2005 movie starring Scarlett Johansson and Ewan McGregor who are clones of wealthy individuals who have financed the creation of their clones so that their vital organs can be “harvested” if the wealthy individuals ever need transplants. [“Harvesting” meant, of course, death for the clone!!!]
*****
Chimera Reprise and Our “Short Fuse” Response -
Unfortunately, a Proposal from the National Institute of Health (NIH) regarding “Chimera” research appeared in The Federal Register of 8/5/2016 and had a 9/6/2016 deadline for public comments!!!
So our 9/14/2016 meeting, which was the first for which our focus had not already been determined as of 8/5/2016 under our normal rules, was too late.
We formed a “Short Fuse” Working Group and filed comments with the NIH before their 9/6/2016 deadline!!! - 11 Topics
- 24 Posts
-
Last post
Minutes of the Thorium-Fissio…
by HLS Classmate View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
E-mail To Our 229 Members Inv…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
New York v. Donald Trump - In…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Sentencing, If Any, Postponed…
by HLS Classmate View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
De Facto Discussion Outline -…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Working Group Re Direct Appea…
by HLS Classmate View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Scarlett Johansson & Ewan McG…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Original Proposal - The Power of Film by the Founding Chair of UCLA’s famous Film & TV Producers Program where he taught 53 years – Sep 18
.
The original proposal is included here for reasons of historical accuracy.
However, it is a bit difficult to understand because "The Power of Film" is both the title of a 2006 book by Prof. Suber and the six-part documentary which aired 2024 - which are entirely unrelated.
Accordingly, our 8/24/2024 weekly e-mail to our 229 members, which lays everything out in a more-understandable fashion, is also included. - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Our Aug 24 Weekly Email to ou…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
The Black Experience in Holly…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – The Power of Film by the Founding Chair of UCLA’s famous Film & TV Producers Program where he taught 53 years – Sep 18
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from -
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
It appears that the six-part Turner Classic Movies documentary was not reviewed by any of the three, or by any well-known news outlets.
However, this section does contain the statutory text of the “Equal Time Rule” of 47 U.S Code Sec. 315 which was discussed in Sec. 3 of the Suggested Answers to the Short Quiz. - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
The Equal Time Rule – 47 U.S.…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Thorium Working Group Revived…
by HLS Classmate View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal - "The Art …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Seco…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – “The Art of Diplomacy: How American Negotiators Reached Historic Agreements that Changed the World” by Stuart Eizenstat – August 21
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from -
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
Both the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post have shirked their duty.
HOWEVER, in addition to the New York Times review, there is included in this section a 5/1/2024 e-mail sent to Stuart Eizenstat with Cc’s to the other participants in our weekly Harvard Law School Class of 1967 Zoom Chat.
The reasons for including the e-mail are –
(1) I was respectfully suggesting that Stuart stop his constantly repeating THE BIG PALESTINIAN LIE that the United Nations in 1947 stole Palestinian land and gave it to the Jews – rather than the truth that the U.N. simply tabulated who owned what as a result of the Arab Empire and Ottoman Empire policy for more than 1,000 years that everyone including Jews were welcome to purchase land; and
(2) I was respectfully suggesting that Stuart stop pushing a “two state solution” for the Israel/Palestinian conflict since THREE PREVIOUS “TWO STATE SOLUTION” ATTEMPTS HAVE FAILED due to the Palestinian refusal to this day to recognize Israel’s right to exist; and
(3) I had also been respectfully suggesting in an earlier 1/3/2024 e-mail to Stuart (Cc’s to our weekly Zoom Chat HLS classmates) that he address the Peace Plan enunciated by Ron Dermer and Benjamin Netanyahu immediately after Gaza’s 7 October 2023 massacre of Israelis.
The Dermer/Netanyahu Peace Plan is to destroy Hamas and proceed to occupy Gaza for years thereafter, similarly to the way the U.S. occupied Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan for many years to transform German/Japanese society so that today, Germany and Japan have for nearly 8 decades, been two of America’s most loyal allies.
[After all, since 1948 Palestinians have been “brain washed” since their cradles.]
Ron Dermer was the Israeli Ambassador to the United States 2013-2021 and since 2022 has been the Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs and, as such, served in Netanyahu’s War Cabinet until it was dissolved 6/17/2024 while remaining a close adviser since then.
*****
My copy of “The Art of Diplomacy” has not arrived yet from Amazon, so I do not know whether it follows any of my suggestions.
Respectfully submitted,
John Karls
7/19/2024
********************************************
7/24/2024 Addendum
Today there was posted in this section a transcript of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s 7/24/2024 Speech to a Joint Session of the U.S. Congress.
It includes the Netanyahu/Dermer Peace Plan to destroy Hamas and proceed to occupy Gaza for years thereafter, similarly to the way the U.S. occupied Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan for many years to transform German/Japanese society so that today, Germany and Japan have for nearly 8 decades, been two of America’s most loyal allies.
That portion of the speech was interrupted 5 times by applause.
That portion can be found by scrolling down in the transcript to the Peace Plan which is bounded by two rows of asterisks.
Respectfully submitted,
John Karls
7/24/2024 - 4 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
The Dermer/Netanyahu Peace Pl…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Fed Ex Overnight Protest To P…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Pres. Biden Proposing Allies …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal - The End o…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Shor…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – “The End of Everything: How Wars Descend into Annihilation” by Victor Davis Hanson – July 17 Meeting
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
The NY Times and Washington Post have shirked their duty!!!
HOWEVER, in addition to the WSJ review there is posted in this section, inter alia, an interview of Victor Davis Hanson by Stanford University’s Hoover Institution about The End of Everything.
[NB: The transcript of the interview exceeded the maximum length of a posting with our website software – accordingly, it spilled over into two so-called “replies.”] - 3 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
Niall Ferguson's "Law" Re Int…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
DiLorenzo’s Ignorance of the …
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal - The Polit…
by Matt Zimmer View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Seco…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – The Politically Incorrect Guide to Economics by Prof. Thomas DiLorenzo – June 19
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
All three appear to have shirked their duty!!!
Which is not surprising since the book is a “POLITICALLY INCORRECT Guide to Economics.”
Even though –
(1) Prof. Thomas J. DiLorenzo is the President of the Ludwig von Mises Institute and a retired economics professor, having taught university economics for forty-one years – AND IS THE AUTHOR OR CO-AUTHOR OF SEVENTEEN BOOKS, INCLUDIG THE REAL LINCOLN, HOW CAPITALISM SAVED AMERICA, HAILTON’S CURSE, AND THE PROBLEM WITH SOCIALISM.
(2) “Politically Incorrect Guide to Economics” is the only one of his 17 books that was written for the “Politically Incorrect Guide” series on myriad topics.
*****
HOWEVER, there is posted in this section a Book Review by David Gordon who is a Senior Fellow at the Mises Institute and editor of the Mises Review. - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - The Politically…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Meeting Report - Second Class…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal - Second Cl…
by GeorgeKunath View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Shor…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials - Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America's Working Men and Women by Batya Ungar-Sargon – May 15
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
All three appear to have shirked their duty!!!
Which is not surprising since Newsweek’s Opinion Editor Batya Ungar-Sargon’s “Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America’s Working Men and Women” is taking aim at the Mainstream Media as an integral part of “The Elites.”
Indeed, we have marveled many times over how America exported American jobs to China et al. for 24 years - 1993-2016. And Batya Ungar-Sargon is NOW ALSO describing the impact of America’s Open Southern Border on America’s Working Class.
HOWEVER, this Reference Materials Section does contain –
(1) A book review of “Second Class” from the New York Post (a conservative newspaper with the ninth-largest circulation in the U.S. – it was acquired by Rupert Murdoch in 1976 before he bought the Wall Street Journal in 2007);
AND NOT TO BE MISSED FOR ITS SURPRISING CONTENT –
(2) An interview of Batya Ungar-Sargon re “Second Class” by her own Newsweek Magazine.
Respectfully submitted,
John Karls – 3/24/2024 - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Interview of Batya Ungar-Sarg…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 3 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Getting TikTok Banned/Diveste…
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Re: Banning TikTok - H.R. 7521
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal - Blood Mon…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Anthony Fauci’s "Crimes Again…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials - Blood Money: Why the Powerful Turn a Blind Eye While China Kills Americans by Peter Schweizer - April 17
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
All three appear to have shirked their duty!!!
And to quote Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” – “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”!!!
(1) Ordinarily, copies of a new book are given by publishers to news organizations SEVERAL WEEKS BEFORE PUBLICATION in the hopes they will review the new book in order to spur initial sales.
(2) “Blood Money” by Peter Schweizer was released by Harper Collins on 2/27/2024 and, within 3 weeks, had shot to No. 1 on the NY Times’ Non-Fiction Bestseller List.
(3) Not only the NY Times, WSJ and WaPo appearing to shirk their duty to provide reviews with searches on their own websites for “Schweizer” producing nothing recent --
(4) But even a Google search for “book review” as an exact term and the inclusion of “Schweizer” and “blood” and “money” (since it is only possible to specify one exact term) – producing no results from any other recognizable publication!!!
*****
My guess???
Harper Collins decided that Peter Schweizer and his books on the Peoples’ Republic of China are so well known (many of which shot to the top of the charts) – that no reviews are needed to spur initial sales.
So Harper Collins must have decided NOT to provide advance copies to any news organizations in order NOT to clutter the scene.
And have the consumer actually read the book rather than become distracted by the opinions of others.
Though, of course, reading when ordering the book, its description on Amazon.com which almost-invariably quotes the book’s dust jacket.
*****
This “Reference Materials” Section
Nonetheless, this section is still provided because, in the past, many “reference materials” in addition to book reviews have been posted in “Reference Materials” sections for prior meetings as our members distinguish between facts as Ref Mats, and their own opinions which are posted in each month’s “Participant Comments” section.
Respectfully submitted,
John Karls – 3/24/2024 - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
"No Substitute for Victory - …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Meeting Report - Elon Musk by…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal - Elon Musk…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Federal Government Cancer - F…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials - Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson - March 20
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post - 5 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
“The Perilous Coming Age of A…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 6 Topics
- 6 Posts
-
Last post
NY Times Continuing Its Defam…
by HLS Classmate View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – Target Tehran: How Israel Is Using Sabotage, Cyberwarfare, Assassination and Secret Diplomacy to Stop a Nuclear Iran - Feb 21
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
Both the New York Times and Washington Post shirked their duty.
However, in addition to the WSJ review, this section includes –
(A) an interview of the Target Tehran authors by The Times Of Israel; and
(B) two book reviews in The Jerusalem Post.
Two reviews in The Jerusalem Post should not be surprising since the authors of Target Tehran are –
Yonah Jeremy Bob who is the senior military and intelligence analyst as well as the book review editor for The Jerusalem Post; and
Ilan Evyatar who is a former News Director, columnist, and senior contributor at The Jerusalem Post. - 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - Wall Street Jou…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
1/27/24: RE-DIRECTING TO MICH…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Re-Directing to Michelle Obam…
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 5 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Seco…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal – The Assau…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – The Assault on American Excellence by Yale Law School Prof. & Former Long-Time Dean Anthony Kronman – Jan 17
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
Although all three reviewed “The Assault on American Excellence,” there are several anomalies –
(1) The New York Times article reviewed two books – the other “Safe Enough Spaces” by Michael S. Roth, President of Wesleyan University.
(2) The Washington Post review is by Michael S. Roth – which would seem an obvious conflict of interest because, as just noted in Item (1), Roth had a competing book which had just been published.
(3) The New York Times, in addition to its book review by the former Dean of the Columbia Journalism School, published an OpEd by Brett Stephens – an OpEd writer for the NY Times since 2017, a Pulitzer Prize winner in 2013 for commentary while at the Wall Street Journal, and a former Editor-in-Chief of the Jerusalem Post.
All three reviews plus the OpEd are posted in this section. - 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - The Assault on …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
"Crossing Swords"
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
The Original Marshall Plan Ac…
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
The Controversial “Right of R…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
Original Proposal – The Samson Option: Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy by Pulitzer Prize Winner Seymour Hersh – Dec 13
.
The Original Proposal was first posted in Sec. 3 (Possible Topics for Future Meetings) on 10/15/2023 for the stated purpose of studying how history is repeating itself –
During the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Israel’s 7 nuclear missiles enabled Israel to avoid becoming the answer to a trivia question (What WAS Israel?) and now it looks like the world is headed to a nuclear holocaust between Iran and Israel with the only question being “How Soon?”!!!
Three comments are in order.
*****
Our focus book (The Samson Option by Seymour Hersh – Random House 1991) about, inter alia, Israel’s 7 nuclear missiles at the time of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, reports the only reason why Israel survived was due to its policy that if it ever reached the point of fewer than 24 hours to go to complete annihilation, before “turning out the lights” it would fire its 7 nuclear missiles at Russia’s 7 largest cities.
HOWEVER, the 10/15/2023 Original Proposal did NOT contain Random House’s book description and author bio from the book’s dust jacket because (1) Amazon.com which usually parrots that info, was no longer doing so, and (2) Yours Truly’s copy was buried in “perma-frost.”
[Most of our members have heard more times than they care to remember that I was married 1967-2000 to the co-author of the nation’s best-selling High School World History textbook (McGraw Hill with National Geographic illustrations) as a result of which my “real job” (vs. my “day job” as an attorney) was to read 12-15 thick historical tomes/bios PER YEAR to unearth overlooked nuggets for possible inclusion in the next edition, of which there were 6 during the 33 years of marriage. And “since old dogs do NOT learn new tricks,” the total of tomes/bios is now well over 1,500.]
Unfortunately, my original 1991 copy of The Samson Option is contained in one of the zillions of storage boxes dating from my 1967-2000 marriage – the exploration and cataloguing of whose contents have always been too painful.
Luckily (or perhaps due to self-discipline), I have always been blessed with a photographic memory for anything that seemed important and/or interesting.
The Samson Option qualified in both categories.
Accordingly, the two dozen references to it on our bulletin board going back to 2008, the earliest of which was featured prominently in the 10/15/2023 Original Proposal, were like the proverbial “falling off a log.”
*****
On 11/15/2023, another copy of The Samson Option was obtained from Amazon.
Accordingly, in addition to the 10/15/2023 Original Proposal based solely on memory, there is posted in this section Random House’s book description and author bio from the book’s dust jacket which Amazon has ceased publicizing but which typically comprise the bulk of our Original Proposals.
*****
The recently-mushrooming price of “The Samson Option” –
The 10/15/2023 Original Proposal quoted Amazon’s price as “$19.00 Hard Copy ($23.43 Paperback) + shipping or $7.99 Kindle.”
Today (11/16/2023), Amazon’s price is -- $67.53 Hard Copy ($139.00 Paperback) + shipping or $12.99 Kindle.
I would like to think this recently-mushrooming price on Amazon is due solely to my actions –
(1) Introducing “The Samson Option” into the weekly Zoom Chats since 10/7/2023 of my Harvard Law School Class of 1967.
(2) Introducing “The Samson Option” into the recent Salt Lake Committee on Foreign Relations meeting on “The Gaza War: How did we get here?” featuring a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
and, perhaps, most importantly –
(3) Posting the Original Proposal 10/15/2023 on our website which gets quite a bit of traffic, particularly from academics and members of the media. - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Participant Comments – The Samson Option: Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy by Pulitzer Prize Winner Seymour Hersh – Dec 13
.
This section traditionally contains our promotional short quiz(es) and its/their suggested answers.
As well as any comments (vs. Reference Materials which go in a separate section so labelled).
**********
Accordingly, there is posted here the scope of our Dec 13 Zoom meeting, as explained in our Nov 18 weekly e-mail, which inter alia said –
The Samson Option book description on its dust jacket ends with –
“The message of The Samson Option is stark: The next Middle East war might very well be nuclear.”
Of course the title’s reference to Samson, a Biblical character who destroyed his enemies while committing suicide, analogizes to both –
(1) the 1973 Israeli policy when faced with imminent annihilation, of firing its nukes before “turning out the lights,” and
(2) what Israel may soon feel forced to do vis-à-vis Iran.
Accordingly, our Dec 13 meeting will focus on the entire imbroglio – including the U.N.’s original 1948 “Two State Solution” based on the U.N.’s careful year-long assessment of who owned what land (Palestine’s population, per the U.N. assessment, was only 58.3% Muslim) - which Israel accepted and was immediately invaded by Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon.
Our Nov 18 weekly e-mail says that of course, Seymour Hersh’s 1991 prophecy did not occur in “the next Middle East War” which got underway before his book was even published – America’s 1991 invasion of Iraq FROM THE ISLAMIC HOLY GROUND OF SAUDI ARABIA which, as we have studied many times, radicalized Osama bin Laden and resulted, inter alia, in his issuing FIVE FATWĀS --
(1) In August 1996, he issued a fatwā entitled “Declaration of War Against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places.”
(2) In February 1998, he issued a fatwā entitled “Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders.”
(3) In December 1998, he issued a fatwā entitled “The Nuclear Bomb of Islam.”
(4) In 2002, nine months after 9/11, he issued a fatwā requiring all of his followers to nuke 4 million Americans -- a fatwā about which the Founding Dean of Harvard U’s Kennedy School of Government, Graham Allison, wrote a famous book entitled “Nuclear Terrorism” about how to deal with the fatwā. [NB: His prescription for all of the world’s nuclear powers to “lock down” every iota of fissile material and to prevent any non-nuclear powers, such as Iran, from enriching fissile material, was widely criticized as impractical and, in any event, has not been implemented.]
(5) By 2005, Osama had issued a revised fatwā requiring all of his followers to nuke 10 million Americans -- as was painfully clear from Tim Russert’s 5/29/2005 Meet the Press interview about how to deal with the fatwā with former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn (D-GA and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman 1987-1995), U.S. Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN and then-current Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman) and Messrs. Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton (Chair and Co-Chair of The 9/11 Commission) -- during which they essentially recommended following Dean Graham Allison’s prescription which, as previously noted, was NOT done. - 4 Topics
- 6 Posts
-
Last post
Remainder of John Karls’ Emai…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
11/24/23: LTR TO PRES. BIDEN …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – The Samson Option: Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy by Pulitzer Prize Winner Seymour Hersh – Dec 13
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
Unfortunately, the Wall Street Journal shirked its responsibility.
In addition to the book reviews from the NY Times & Washington Post, there are posted in this section, inter alia --
(1) A 10/19/2023 Foreign Policy Magazine article on why Israel’s intelligence agencies failed to predict the Oct 7 Hamas attack;
(2) A 10/12/2023 Jerusalem Post article on a poll that has been widely reported in the American media as proof that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is doomed. HOWEVER, the poll was taken before Benny Gantz joined on Oct 10 what the Post article called the “Emergency Unity Government” whose members have agreed that an investigation re responsibility for the intelligence failure will wait until after the war is concluded.
Another issue attracting a lot of attention is Israel’s “end game.”
That was addressed 11/12/2023 by The Hon. Ron Dermer, Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs and Member of the Israeli War Cabinet – he previously served as Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. 2013-2021.
The transcript of his remarks is not yet available (as of today, Nov 16), but there are many videos available on the internet.
In essence, Mr. Dermer cites World War II and how, after defeating Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, America did not simply leave. Instead, America asserted control over German and Japanese society for a considerable number of years in order to assure that young Germans and Japanese were being properly taught in their schools, etc., etc., with the result that today, 78 years after World War II, Germany and Japan are among America’s most-loyal allies.
The Dermer transcript will be posted in this section as soon as it becomes available.
Everyone, as usual, is encouraged to post any other Reference Materials that will enhance our knowledge and understanding. - 6 Topics
- 6 Posts
-
Last post
Tunnel Detectors Ferret Out E…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
11/24/23: LTR TO PRES. BIDEN …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Life After Capitalism: The Me…
by Steve Kunath View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
The Forbes Book Review’s Unpa…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – Life After Capitalism: The Meaning of Wealth, the Future of the Economy, and the Time Theory of Money by George Gilder – Nov 15
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
Unfortunately, all three publications shirked their duty despite George Gilder’s being a well-known 83-year-old investor, economist and author of 21 well-known books.
Indeed, scouring the internet disclosed that only one well-known publication – Forbes – reviewed Life After Capitalism.
It is posted in this section.
In addition, scouring the internet disclosed that George Gilder had authored a 5,014-word article entitled “Life After Capitalism” which was published 10/14/2021 – nearly 18 months before publication of his book by the same title.
It is also posted in this section.
BTW, Yours Truly has always believed that despite all the hype, Artificial Intelligence is NOT able to think (only human beings can do that) – and, accordingly, was intrigued to discover that George Gilder’s 20th book is entitled “Gaming AI: Why AI Can’t Think but Can Transform Jobs.” [Not enough to read it, even though its title IMHO rings true.]
Respectfully submitted,
John Karls - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - Life After Capi…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
LETTER TO PRES. BIDEN RE EXPO…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal – No Trade …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Shor…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – No Trade Is Free: Changing Course, Taking on China, and Helping America's Workers by Robert Lighthizer – Oct 18
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
The New York Times and Washington Post have shirked their duty – presumably because in the wake of the 1993-2016 American policy of exporting American jobs (and Donald Trump - Robert Lighthizer becoming the champions of blue-collar workers), NYT & WaPo probably don’t know what to think.
Even the Wall Street Journal seems befuddled by having its book review authored by Pat Toomey, the 2-term U.S. Senator (R-PA - elected 2010 and re-elected 2016) who, as reinforced by the views expressed in his book review, was a member of the 1993-2016 Bi-Partisan Elite that insisted on exporting American jobs (he also served in the House of Representatives 1999-2005).
As is reasonable to infer from the WSJ’s selection of Pat Toomey to write their review, the WSJ must also want American jobs exported.
However, the New York Times did publish a 12/18/2022 OpEd by Robert Lighthizer (6 months before publication of his book) entitled “The U.S. Needs to Change the Way It Does Business With China.”
The NYT OpEd and the WSJ/Toomey book review are available in this section.
PLEASE NOTE THAT TWO OTHER BOOK REVIEWS ARE POSTED, BOTH PUBLISHED BY BRITISH NEWSPAPERS AND BOTH TAKING A CALMER VIEW OF WHY AMERICA CANNOT GO ON FOREVER RUNNING UP ITS NATIONAL DEBT WHILE IMPORTING VIRTUALLY ALL OF ITS MANUFACTURED GOODS AND DOING NOTHING BUT “SELLING HAMBURGERS TO EACH OTHER” --
(1) The Financial Times is Britain’s counterpart to the Wall Street Journal.
(2) The Guardian is considered a “newspaper of record” in the U.K. (similar to The NY Times in the U.S.). Since 1936 it has been owned by The Scott Trust to "secure the financial and editorial independence of The Guardian in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of The Guardian free from commercial or political interference." - 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
OpEd Article by "No Trade Is …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Letter to President Biden re …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Combatting the Exportation of…
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal – “Poverty,…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
The Avalanche of Inquiries Re…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – “Poverty, by America” by Prof. Matthew Desmond – Sep 20
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
Click on this “Reference Materials” section for all three.
In addition to its book review, The Washington Post interviewed Matthew Desmond re “Poverty, by America.” The transcript of that interview is also available in this section.
Warning –
The Washington Post book review’s third paragraph begins with the sentence – “The Bible tells us that the poor are always with us.”
Unfortunately, the reviewer (Timothy Noah - identified by WaPo as “a staff writer for the New Republic”) appears ignorant that in virtually every Jewish Synagogue, there is a black leather-bound book in the back of the pew in front of you labelled in gold lettering “The Bible.”
The problem???
Timothy Noah is quoting Christ from the Christian Bible.
He appears ignorant that the Jewish Bible (the Christian “Old Testament”) does NOT talk about the poor always being with us.
**********
For any “wise acres” who want to double-check this “warning,” the University of Michigan provides an on-line searchable Bible (King James version) at https://quod.lib.umich.edu/k/kjv/simple.html.
If you input “poor” as your search term, you will find 244 places that “poor” appears.
Only 144 are in the Jewish Bible (i.e., Christian “Old Testament”) AND NONE OF THEM TALK ABOUT THE POOR ALWAYS BEING WITH US.
ALL THREE THAT TALK ABOUT THE POOR ALWAYS BEING WITH US are quoting Christ in an incident reported in Matthew 26, Mark 14. and John 12 in which a woman anoints Christ with a precious ointment and is then criticized by the disciples on the grounds that the ointment could have been sold and the proceeds given to the poor. Christ rebukes them, saying (Matthew 26:10-12) – “Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.” - 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - Poverty By Amer…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Our Focus Book Was Published …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 6 Posts
-
Last post
William Warfield and Simon Es…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials - When Race Trumps Merit: How the Pursuit of Equity Sacrifices Excellence, Destroys Beauty, and Threatens Lives - Aug 16
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
Both the New York Times and Washington Post shirked their duty by turning a blind eye to “When Race Trumps Merit.”
Similarly, the WSJ did NOT review “When Race Trumps Merit.”
*****
However, the WSJ did permit its author, Heather Mac Donald, to write an OpEd about it.
Her OpEd can be accessed by clicking on this “Reference Materials” section.
*****
It appears from an exhaustive search that “When Race Trumps Merit” was reviewed by only a very-small handful of publications, all of which were conservative.
The only recognizable such publication is The Washington Free Beacon which is a privately owned, for-profit online newspaper that began publication in 2012. Its website proclaims that it is dedicated to uncovering the stories that the powers that be hope will never see the light of day, producing in-depth investigative reporting on a wide range of issues, including public policy, government affairs, international security, and media.
Its review of “When Race Trumps Merit” can be accessed by clicking on this “Reference Materials” section. - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
OpEd Article by "When Race Tr…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
U.S. Supreme Court Leaves In …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
The Safer Communities Act of …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 8 Topics
- 8 Posts
-
Last post
The FIFTH CIRCUIT still refus…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – The U.S. Supreme Court vs. Lower-Court National Injunctions – July 19
.
This month’s topic is another instance of an important public-policy issue that book publishers don’t see fit to let see the light of day.
[In all fairness to publishers, this issue, though incredibly important (whether any of more than 670 U.S. District Court Judges should be permitted to “put on hold” Presidential Executive Orders, Congressionally-passed statutes, Federal Agency regulations, etc. -- for years while the cases wend their leisurely way to the U.S. Supreme Court) is esoteric enough that a publisher can’t expect to sell many books.]
Accordingly, we will endeavor to address it by, inter alia, dredging up worthwhile “Reference Materials” in trying to achieve a consensus on an appropriate public policy.
**********
The following “Reference Materials” were already contained in the “Original Proposal” at viewtopic.php?f=746&t=2357&sid=ca9219cb ... d1d01f2ec5 --
(1) Its third paragraph mentions that the National Law Journal reported on 7/14/2020 that during 2017-2018 there were 25 nationwide injunctions and that “a few [Supreme Court] justices are on the warpath against nationwide injunctions” -- though obviously not yet a majority for banning them outright.
(2) After a brief intro, the Original Proposal includes ver batim a 9/25/2021 article from Harvard Law Today reporting on a symposium of 4 Harvard Law School faculty on the issue.
[The remainder of the Original Proposal comprises examples of the U.S. Supreme Court policing lower courts long before their cases wend their leisurely way to the Supreme Court.]
**********
In addition to the two “Reference Materials” contained in the “Original Proposal” this section includes, inter alia, several of the top Google results from searching “National Injunctions” --
(1) 2/6/2023 Bloomberg News OpEd by George Washington Univ Law School Associate Dean – “It’s Time to Enact a 3-Judge Court Law for National Injunctions.”
(2) Harvard Law Review article (Dec 2017) entitled “Multiple Chancellors: Reforming the National Injunction” by Univ of Notre Dame Law School Prof. Samuel L. Bray.
(3) Harvard Law Review article (Jan 2020) Entitled “The Lost History of the ‘Universal’ Injunction” by U of San Diego Law School Assoc. Dean Mila Sohoni. - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
2/6/2023 Bloomberg News OpEd …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Original Proposal – Rabbi Van Lanckton’s 16 Gun-Safety Ideas, Providing Our Schools The Same Protection As Airports & Office Buildings, Etc. – June 21
.
On occasion, we are forced to focus on a topic that neither the news media nor book publishers are willing to let “see the light of day” -- using such materials as our members can assemble from news articles, court opinions, other official documents, etc.
This is such an occasion.
Please post anything you believe is relevant in the immediately-following "Participant Comments" section or the "Reference Materials" section.
[Yes, this "Original Proposal" comprises 5 postings including "Participant Comments" and "Reference Materials" -- but they were part of the Original Proposal.] - 5 Topics
- 6 Posts
-
Last post
Unauthorized Bio of Rabbi Van…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 6 Topics
- 6 Posts
-
Last post
Uvalde TX School Shooting – O…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 5 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
Further Thoughts About Rabbi …
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
“A Bright Future” Virtually I…
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by Steve Kunath View the latest post
-
-
Participant Comments – Oliver Stone’s “Nuclear Now” + “A Bright Future: How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change and the Rest Can Follow” – May 17
.
This section will contain, inter alia, our traditional Short Quiz and Suggested Answers.
HOWEVER, we have championed thorium fission many times over the years.
Most recently with our letters to each of the 2019-2020 Democrat Debate Moderators, each of whom refused to even mention Climate Change, much less nuclear energy – even though two candidates, Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. Michael Bennet were, at the behest of Bill Gates, strong supporters of uranium fission and sponsors of successful nuclear legislation.
ALL OF THE 2019-2020 DEMOCRAT DEBATE MODERATORS IGNORED EVEN CLIMATE CHANGE AS IF WIND-SOLAR WERE ON THE TABLETS MOSES BROUGHT DOWN FROM MOUNT SINAI.
A summary of our findings and campaigns aimed at decision makers occupies the last 75% of the lengthy 4/25/2023 e-mail from John Karls to his 1967 Harvard Law School classmates following their weekly 4/24/2023 Zoom chat.
That e-mail is posted in this section because, even though it includes a wealth of information which we have developed over the years which might be considered more appropriate for our “Reference Materials” section, it is posted here as a “Participant Comment” because, after all, it is only a summary and does not include the voluminous sources for the facts that it contains.
If anyone would like cross-links to the materials for our many meetings re thorium fission containing the sources for the facts in the 4/25/2023 e-mail, please send your request(s) to ReadingLiberally-SaltLake@johnkarls.com. - 5 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
A Reaction To Oliver Stone’s …
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
-
Reference Materials – Oliver Stone’s “Nuclear Now” + “A Bright Future: How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change and the Rest Can Follow” – May 17
.
Since Oliver Stone’s “Nuclear Now” is not yet available in theaters (and then only in a limited number, each of which typically has only one showing, usually in the evening of May 1), our weekly newsletter of 4/22/2023 to our 223 members said that “…..our focus book will be “A Bright Future: How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change and the Rest Can Follow” by Joshua Goldstein and Staffan Quist. And hopefully those who are able to see Oliver Stone’s ‘Nuclear Now’ which is based on ‘A Bright Future’ can provide extra context.”
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
The Washington Post shirked its duty by turning a blind eye to “A Bright Future.”
However, the New York Times published a book review by Richard Rhodes – prolific author of, inter alia, the Pulitzer-Prize-winning “The Making of the Atomic Bomb” (1986) and “Energy: A Human History” (2018).
And the Wall Street Journal published an essay by the authors of “A Bright Future” which was adapted from their book.
In addition to the NYT book review and the WSJ essay, this section includes an article from the Harvard Gazette about a pre-release screening of “Nuclear Now” at Harvard followed by a panel discussion introduced by Harvard Professor Steven Pinker (who wrote the Foreward to “A Bright Future”) and featuring, in addition to Oliver Stone and Joshua Goldstein – MIT Associate Provost Richard Lester and the Director of Harvard’s Center for the Environment, Daniel Schrag. - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - A Bright Futue …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Meeting Report – “Marked for …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Discussion Outline – Marked for Life: One Man's Fight for Justice from the Inside – April 19
.
NB: Sec. C of the Discussion Outline proposes an amendment to the Federal "Hate Crimes" Law (Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1968) by providing criminal penalties for a willful failure to provide criminal defendants with exculpatory evidence as required by the U.S. Supreme Court in Brady vs. Maryland (373 U.S. 83 (1963)). - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Racial Discrimination and Put…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal – Marked fo…
by Rev. Mark A. Karls View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Seco…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – Marked for Life: One Man's Fight for Justice from the Inside – April 19
.
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
None of them reviewed “Marked for Life” – presumably because this is a “cart before the horse” situation with the story of “Marked for Life” being portrayed in a TV series entitled “For Life” and airing for two seasons on ABC 2020-2021, while “Marked for Life” was not published until 11/8/2022 – with the NYT and WaPo already having reviewed “For Life.”
The WSJ appears to have shirked its duty by not even reviewing “For Life.” Accordingly, its place is taken by The New York Post which is the nation’s oldest daily newspaper (established 1801 by Alexander Hamilton) and which has been conservative since being acquired by Rupert Murdoch in 1976 (long before Murdoch acquired the WSJ in 2007).
Accordingly, this section includes, inter alia, the reviews of ABC’s “For Life” from –
The New York Times
The New York Post
The Washington Post
The American Bar Association Journal (which is referenced in Q&A-18 & Q&A-19 of the First Short Quiz) - 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Review of ABC's "For Life" TV…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal – The Coddl…
by Jay Hansen View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
How Do John Karls and Reading…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure – March 15
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - The Coddling of…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Original Proposal – Future Peace: Technology, Aggression, and the Rush to War by Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Robert Latiff – Feb 15
.
Please be sure to read the so-called reply entitled “Re: The Promotional Material Implying New Weapons Will Themselves Start Wars” which contains the author’s ver batim renunciation at his 4/27/2022 NYC Harvard Club Book Promotion, of his publisher’s implications in its promotional materials that American weapons superiority starts wars. - 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Re: The Promotional Material …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Shor…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – Future Peace: Technology, Aggression, and the Rush to War by Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Robert Latiff – Feb 15
.
“Future Peace” is unique, even for a book that was promoted by the NYC Harvard Club – please see the Club’s webinar notice in the Reading Liberally “Original Proposal” at viewtopic.php?f=725&t=2295&sid=f075e339 ... 78d2f54dfe.
Its author is uniquely qualified to discuss the book’s sub-title: “Technology, Aggression, and the Rush to War.”
Robert H. Latiff attended Notre Dame where he received his BS in physics on an Army scholarship and his MS and PhD in materials science on a National Science Foundation grant. He is also a graduate of the National Security Fellows Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
In 2006, he retired from the U.S. Air Force as a Major General for whose National Reconnaissance Office he directed advanced research, development, and engineering after commanding the NORAD Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center. He is a recipient of the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal and the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal.
Dr. Latiff now teaches at Notre Dame where he chairs the external advisory board of the Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values. He is also a consultant, providing advice on advanced technology matters to corporate and government clients and to universities.
He is a member of (1) the Intelligence Community Studies Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and (2) the Committee on International Security and Arms Control of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
**********
Accordingly, instead of the normal spate of book reviews, the following items are posted as reference materials –
(1) A 2/7/2014 NY Times article about how Gen/Prof Latiff came to teach Philosophy 20628 “The Ethics of Emerging Weapons Technology” at Notre Dame – the NYT article written by Samuel Freedman who writes the “On Religion” column for the NY Times and is a Professor at the Columbia U Graduate School of Journalism.
(2) A Wikipedia Article on the history of the Just War Doctrine which begins with a picture (unfortunately our website software does not accommodate pictures) of Saint Augustine with the caption “Saint Augustine was the first clear advocate of just-war theory.”
(3) A 4/24/2022 article PUBLISHED 2 MONTHS AFTER THE RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE by Catholic Conscience (a self-described Catholic non-partisan civic and political leadership and engagement organization) analyzing in detail the provisions of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and a recent encyclical by Pope Francis.
(4) And for our super-achievers, a 34-page article on “War” from Stanford University’s “Encyclopedia of Philosophy.” - 5 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
How Gen/Prof Latiff Came To T…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Jan 18 Meeting Report – Estab…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal – “Bibi: My…
by GeorgeKunath View the latest post
-
-
Participant Comments – “Bibi: My Story” by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – Jan 18
.
TWO MAJOR PUBLIC-POLICY ISSUES
As can be seen from the book description posted in the preceding “Original Proposal” section, “Bibi” is an autobiography (which BTW Netanyahu wrote “long hand”) covering his entire life as well as many public-policy issues.
For our 17 years of existence, we have always prided ourselves in being a NON-PARTISAN PUBLIC-POLICY STUDY/ACTION GROUP that does NOT waste time supporting particular candidates – but instead, GOES WITH THE WINNERS AND TELLS THEM WHAT TO DO.
In “Bibi” and in his many media interviews, Bibi Netanyahu posits that the TWO MAJOR PUBLIC-POLICY ISSUES motivating him to become Prime Minister for a third time are –
(1) Opposing the Iran Nuclear Deal (aka JCPOA) and taking whatever action is necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons; and
(2) Expanding the number of “Abraham Accords” with Arab countries from those achieved in 2020 during his most recent term as Prime Minister – United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. [BTW, Benjamin Netanyahu claims that even those countries would NOT have normalized relations without the tacit approval of Saudi Arabia over which Israel has commercial over-flight privileges to reach the UAE and Bahrain.] - 5 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
“The Iran Nuclear Deal (aka J…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
-
Reference Materials – “Bibi: My Story” by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – Jan 18
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
The New York Times has shirked its duty.
Accordingly, only the WSJ & WaPo book reviews are posted in this section. - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
New York Times Dec 17 Editori…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal - “Doom: Th…
by Steve Kunath View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
SUGGESTED ANSWER 16 - Missing…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – “Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe” by Prof. Niall Ferguson (husband of Ayaan Hirsi Ali) – Dec 14
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
The Wall Street Journal has shirked its duty.
Accordingly, in addition to The NY Times & WaPo book reviews, this section includes a book review from the Financial Times which is the British equivalent of the WSJ.
For good measure (since our author Niall Ferguson is a Scot educated at Oxford who taught at Cambridge & Oxford for 13 years before coming to Harvard 2004-2021), there is also added a book review from The Guardian.
The Guardian is considered a “newspaper of record” in the U.K. (similar to The NY Times in the U.S.). Since 1936 it has been owned by The Scott Trust to "secure the financial and editorial independence of The Guardian in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of The Guardian free from commercial or political interference." - 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - Doom: The Polit…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
U.S. Census Bureau on Homeles…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
The NYC Harvard Club Has Just…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Participant Comments – A Pox On Both Former Sen. Phil Gramm and Pres. Biden Re Jonathan Kozol’s “Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America” – Nov 16
.
The Original Proposal in the immediately-preceding section said there are four reasons for reading “The Myth of American Inequality: How Government Biases Policy Debate” by Phil Gramm, Robert Ekelund and John Early (Rowland & Littlefield Publishers 9/15/2022) –
(1) You can’t react properly to a viewpoint unless you understand it.
(2) The authors of our 2/7/2018 focus book “$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America” by Professors Kathryn J. Edin and H. Luke Shaefer (Houghton Mifflin September 2015) led a team that interviewed tens of thousands of American households and, accordingly, DID NOT RELY ON ANY ALLEGEDLY BIASED GOVERNMENTAL INFO.
(3) Our 6/3/2020 focus book “The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America” by Jonathan Kozol (Crown Publishing 9/13/2005) capped a 50-year career of writing award-winning best-selling books on American inner-city education. “The Shame of the Nation” describes how the U.S. Supreme Court effectively overruled its famous 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision declaring unconstitutional the de jure dual-school system of the 11 states of the old Civil-War Confederacy and the 6 slave states that were duped into remaining in the U.S. by Pres. Lincoln’s claim that the purpose of the Civil War was to preserve the Union and had nothing to do with abolishing slavery. BROWN VS. BOARD WAS EFFECTIVELY OVERRULED BY PARENTS VS. SEATTLE SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1 (551 U.S. 701 (2007)) WHICH HELD THAT “APARTHEID” SCHOOLING WAS JUST FINE SO LONG AS IT REFLECTED “APARTHEID” HOUSING PATTERNS!!!
(4) PHIL GRAMM’S AND PRES. BIDEN’S REFUSAL TO PERMIT 10 MILLION INNER-CITY CHILDREN TO ESCAPE “A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH”!!! The indictment of Phil Gramm and Pres. Biden are contained in Sections 4 and 5 of www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org entitled “Legal Briefs, Etc. – Inner-City Holocaust and America’s Apartheid ‘Justice’ System (In Honor of Jonathan Kozol and In Memory of John Howard Griffin)” and in our 6/3/2020 Six-Degrees-Of-Separation E-mail Campaign to Presidential Candidate Biden entitled “Addressing the Cause of Racism (vs. a Mere Symptom)” which is available at viewtopic.php?f=23&t=1925&sid=fbd6df8bf ... d4ad78e0b0.
*****
This “Participants Comments” Section typically contains a “Short Quiz” and “Suggested Answers.”
Accordingly, two of the Short Quizzes for each of the 2/7/2018 and 6/3/2020 meetings are posted in this section.
BTW, as mentioned in a so-called “reply” to the Original Proposal in the immediately-preceding section, the NYC Harvard Club has booked Former Sen. Gramm to discuss his book and take questions Thursday Nov. 17 at 7:00 pm EST at the club, 35 West 44th Street. If you are not a member of the club, please let me know and I’ll register you as a guest. - 9 Topics
- 15 Posts
-
Last post
Affirmative Action - Last Mon…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
-
Reference Materials – A Pox On Both Former Sen. Phil Gramm and Pres. Biden Re Jonathan Kozol’s “Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America” – Nov 16
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
As of Sunday 10/30/2022, The New York Times and Washington Post have shirked their duty even though “The Myth of American Inequality: How Government Biases Policy Debate” came off press 9/15/2022.
Accordingly, there are posted in this section, inter alia –
(1) A Wall Street Journal article by Phil Gramm and John Early defending their “The Myth of American Inequality: How Government Biases Policy Debate.”
(2) In lieu of the shirking NY Times & Washington Post, TWO New Republic book reviews by THE PERFECT PERSON TO PICK UP THE FALLEN BANNER of the NYT/WaPo –
(A) not only because he authored “The Great Divergence: America’s Growing Inequality Crisis and What We Can Do About It” (Bloomsbury Press 4/24/2012);
(B) but also because, per his Amazon.com bio – “Timothy Noah was recently named "TRB," the lead columnist at The New Republic. He wrote for Slate for a dozen years, and previously served at the Wall Street Journal, the New Republic, and the Washington Monthly…. Noah received the 2011 Hillman Prize, the highest award for public service magazine journalism, for the series in Slate that forms the basis of The Great Divergence.” - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
WSJ article by Gramm and Earl…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal - Volt Rush…
by GeorgeKunath View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
(1) Lithium Ion the “Holy Gra…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – Volt Rush: The Winners and Losers in the Race to Go Green – Oct 19
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
As of Sunday 9/25/2022, The New York Times and Washington Post have shirked their duty.
Accordingly, there are posted in this section, inter alia, book reviews from –
(1) Foreign Policy Magazine
(2) The Guardian*
(3) The Wall Street Journal
* The Guardian is considered a “newspaper of record” in the U.K. (similar to The NY Times in the U.S.). Since 1936 it has been owned by The Scott Trust to "secure the financial and editorial independence of The Guardian in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of The Guardian free from commercial or political interference." - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Volt Rush - Book Review - For…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Population Ethics and The Int…
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal – What We O…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Seco…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – What We Owe The Future by Oxford U. Prof. William MacAskill – Sept 21
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
None of them has reviewed “What We Owe The Future” as of 8/18/2022.
Accordingly, there are posted in this section, inter alia –
(1) The New York Times – an 8/5/2022 OpEd by our author, Prof. William MacAskill, summarizing “What We Owe The Future.”
(2) The Financial Times (British) – a conventional 8/15/2022 book review.
(3) The New Yorker – an 8/8/2022 article on “What We Owe The Future.”
(4) Time Magazine – an 8/10/2022 article on “What We Owe The Future.” - 4 Topics
- 7 Posts
-
Last post
Administrative Post
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Our author’s last of five cha…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal - “The Dumb…
by Steve Kunath View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
My “On The Clock” Solution to…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials - “The Dumbest Generation Grows Up: From Stupefied Youth to Dangerous Adults” by Prof. Mark Bauerlein - Aug 17
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
Neither the NY Times nor the WSJ reviewed “The Dumbest Generation Grows Up.”
However, both of them reviewed its 2008 predecessor – "The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don 't Trust Anyone Under 30)” by Mark Bauerlein (Tarcher Publishing – 5/15/2008 – 272 pages).
Both are posted in this section for historical context.
The Washington Post book review takes the form of an OpEd article by the Post’s twice/week conservative columnist, George Will.
The fourth book review was written for The Federalist by a member of “The Dumbest Generation” -- Auguste Meyrat, a high-school English teacher in the Dallas area, who holds an MA in humanities and an MEd in educational leadership. He is the senior editor of The Everyman and has written essays for The Federalist, The American Conservative, and The Imaginative Conservative, as well as the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture. - 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - 2008 Book "The …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 3 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
U.S. Energy Independence Achi…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal - How The W…
by Steve Kunath View the latest post
-
- 7 Topics
- 7 Posts
-
Last post
I Take The Point That Thorium…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials - Climate Change and "How The World Really Works: The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We’re Going" by Vaclav Smil - July 20
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - How The World R…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Shor…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – Caste: The Origins Of Our Discontents - Oprah’s Book Club – June 15
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - Caste - The New…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Discussion Outline Sec. C “Th…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Original Proposal – “Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win” by Peter Schweizer – May 18
.
To Whom It May Concern:
The following exchange of e-mails relates to the comments on the face of the next two sections of this website.
HLS Classmate
Subject: Your Comments on the Face of the “Participant Comments” and “Reference Materials” Sections
From: HLS Classmate
Date: Fri, April 22, 2022 7:52 am EDT
To: John Karls
John,
I was struck by how your referenced comments seemed to veer off track from your statement at the beginning of the “Red Handed” book review from The Guardian which is posted in the “Reference Materials” section -- regarding the book review’s author you said: “For Lloyd Green’s bias as a member of ‘The Establishment,’ please see the face of this ‘Reference Materials’ section of the bulletin board and the preceding ‘Participant Comments’ section.”
(1) You abruptly began discussing Pres. George H.W. Bush whom Lloyd Green served;
(2) Your discussion of Pres. George H.W. Bush focused primarily on Gulf War I and its implications; but then
(3) Your final paragraph suddenly focused on the Iraq-Iran War of a decade earlier.
I realize that the explanations for those jumps would probably have doubled the length of your comments and, consequently, lost the readers’ attention long before they reached the end of your comments.
Nevertheless, I would be interested in the explanations for those jumps.
Regards,
HLS Classmate
Subject: Re: Your Comments on the Face of the “Participant Comments” and “Reference Materials” Sections
From: John Karls
Date: Fri, April 22, 2022 6:41 am MDT
To: HLS Classmate
Dear HLS Classmate,
Thank you for your e-mail.
The jump to Pres. George H.W. Bush and Gulf War I, though unexplained, accords with the purpose of alerting readers to the probable “Establishment” bias of Lloyd Green.
Particularly since Lloyd Green seems to focus primarily on the Hunter Biden laptop whereas “Red Handed” has 9 chapters, only one of which focuses on the Bidens and that chapter focuses on President Biden (and, as a result, his family).
And I did apologize for jumping from Gulf War I to the Iraq-Iran War whose explosions I had witnessed on the horizon from the safety of Safaniya, Saudi Arabia, 80 miles away.
I did that on three different trips to Saudi because I was so heart-broken to see what appeared to be fireworks but what I knew involved the killing and wounding of human beings!!!
For me the greatest tragedy of war is that the human beings who are being killed and wounded had nothing to do with starting it and, so often, are mere teenage conscripts who have little or no idea why it is being fought (or at least, the real reason(s) why it is being fought)!!!
If you can forgive another “jump,” I would highly recommend (if you haven’t already done so) visiting the two American WW-II military cemeteries at Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, and inside the famous extinct-volcanic-crater landmark known as Punchbowl in Honolulu.
You’ll find more than 95% of the graves hold the remains of teenagers!!!
Thank you again for your e-mail.
Your friend,
John K.
PS – As you know, I served as a U.S. Naval Officer 1967-1970 (Unrestricted Line, Surface – Ensign > Lieutenant (j.g.) > Lieutenant) who had, as described elsewhere on this website, a Top-Secret Security Clearance with Cryptographic Access as was typical of Naval Commands with nukes because, if the order is received to fire your nukes while you are standing an OOD watch, you don’t have time to awaken your C.O. Yes, we knew that if that ever happened, we were dying for our country – but we knew why!!! - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal – “Red-Hand…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Participant Comments – “Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win” by Peter Schweizer – May 18
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section that follows immediately below, includes not only any articles, research reports, etc. that our members consider relevant, but also book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
An “advanced search” for “Schweizer” from 10/1/2021 to today (4/21/20220) of the websites of each of those three publications demonstrates that none of them has mentioned Schweizer during that time frame, much less published a review of “Red Handed.”
It would be fair to infer that the Peoples Republic of China has forbidden them to publish reviews.
INDEED, a Google search for “Schweizer ‘Red Handed’” disclosed that no more than 3 prominent newspapers/magazines published book reviews, adding to the inference that the PRC can “cancel” information about anything that offends it.
HOWEVER, there is posted in the following "Reference Materials" section one of those book reviews by Britain’s “The Guardian” newspaper which is owned by the Scott Trust to preserve independence.
The author of The Guardian’s book review is simply identified as Lloyd Green who, per https://www.theguardian.com/profile/lloyd-green, is --
“An attorney in New York, Lloyd Green was opposition research counsel to George HW Bush’s 1988 campaign and served in the Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992.”
Our members will recall our abhorrence of how American business commands the free use of our military for corporate purposes.
And how President George HW Bush (1989-1993) launched “Gulf War I” against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq ON BEHALF OF AMERICA’S GULF OIL COMPANY whose crown jewel Kuwait had been suddenly invaded/annexed by Saddam.
To fight Saddam, Bush’s invasion of Iraq was staged principally from Saudi Arabia.
Bush’s stationing American troops in Saudi provoked Osama bin Laden to issue a fatwā (which is STILL a religious duty of every member of Al Qaeda and its off-shoots such as ISIS) TO NUKE 10 MILLION AMERICANS.
How to cope with Osama’s fatwā was the subject of a book by Graham Allison, the Founding Dean of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government – “Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe” (Times Books 8/9/2004).
Graham Allison’s solution of keeping track of the world’s fissile material the way we used to keep track of gold at Fort Knox was rejected by Congress in favor of FISA Sec. 702’s empowerment of our intelligence services to spy on Americans WITHOUT A WARRANT so long as either the Attorney General or DNI labels it a “national emergency.”
HOWEVER, before the Congressional rejection, Dean Allison’s approach was championed by Tim Russert’s Meet the Press, Tom Brokaw, Sam Nunn (D-GA & long-time chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee), Richard Lugar (R-IN & long-time chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee) and Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton (Chair & Vice-Chair of the 9/11 Commission).
[Please see the 5/29/2009 transcript of Meet the Press at viewtopic.php?f=25&t=166&p=212&hilit=al ... f7355#p212.]
[NB: This commentary has to be continued in the following section due to the size-limitation on commentary imposed by our website software.] - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Treason by The Establishment …
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
-
Reference Materials – “Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win” by Peter Schweizer – May 18
.
Continuation of commentary from the preceding section --
CAVEAT – In all fairness to Pres. George HW Bush, Saudi Arabia has been the “king pin” of OPEC since it began to flex its muscles 1973-4 because Saudi was the only OPEC member able to “shut in” enough production to make OPEC prices stick – and if Pres. Bush had permitted Saddam to invade/annex Kuwait, Saddam might have reached for the proverbial Brass Ring – Saudi Arabia.
To avoid being caught between Saddam’s imperialism and the future fatwās of an as-yet-obscure Osama bin Laden, it would have been necessary to launch Gulf War I from areas other than Saudi.
BTW, Yours Truly apologizes for “running off at the mouth” but it does bring back memories of how he was Senior Tax Counsel of Texaco 1974-1987 when it was still a Fortune-Ten company and how following several Aramco meetings during Aramco’s 8-year takeover by Saudi Arabia, he would take the world’s largest airlines (Aramco’s), since it was free to the Aramco shareholders (Texaco, Exxon, Chevron & Mobil), to Safaniya on the Kuwaiti border to watch the Iran-Iraq War explosions on the night horizon from 80 miles away. - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - "Red Handed" - …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Globalists – “Citizens of the…
by HLS Classmate View the latest post
-
-
Original Proposal - The Dying Concept of Citizenship & America’s Southern Border – April 20
.
**********
THE UNITED NATIONS' 22-YEAR-OLD “WAR ON MODERN SLAVERY”
Since this month provides our quarterly five-week gap between meetings, I intend to use the extra time to focus equally on the second portion of “The Dying Concept of Citizenship & America’s Southern Border” in general and MODERN SLAVERY, in particular.
“America’s Southern Border” is the site of most of our illegal-drug imports BUT IT IS ALSO THE SITE OF MOST OF OUR IMPORTS OF MODERN SLAVES.
Unfortunately, the United Nations’ titled its 22-year-old “War on MODERN SLAVERY” as, instead, programs and reports on “Trafficking in Persons” which is much-too-polite to attract much attention.
When our 9/18/2019 meeting focused on the United Nation’s now-22-year-old “War on MODERN SLAVERY,” we learned many facts that should rivet everyone’s attention, including --
(1) Trafficking human slaves is more profitable for organized crime than illegal guns or illegal drugs!!!
(2) There are more slaves today than ever throughout history!!!
(3) Indeed, at least TWICE AS MANY people are CURRENTLY TRAPPED in some form of slavery as were traded throughout the 350 years of the transatlantic slave industry!!!
(4) Virtually all of the slaves come from refugee camps where they are easily enticed by the false promise of a better life!!!
(5) Indeed, the retail price of a slave delivered in the U.S. is only $5,250 as a result of which the average price of a sex act is only $27.50 which has unleashed incredible demand!!!
(6) And the average sex slave performs 3,296 sex acts per year for $90,648 of gross income which means that the net return after expenses (meals, bribery of officials, etc.) is an ANNUAL net profit of MANY TIMES the initial investment – with no workforce training!!!
(7) Of course, you can use your slave for anything you want including working in your vineyard or on your farm under whatever inhumane working conditions you like and, of course, for no remuneration other than enough calories to keep the slave alive!!!
(8) AND QUITE A FEW SLAVES ARE PURCHASED FOR ORGAN HARVESTING!!!
(9) The average sex slave is dead by age 35!!!
Respectfully submitted,
HLS Classmate - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal - The Dying…
by HLS Classmate View the latest post
-
-
-
Participant Comments - The Dying Concept of Citizenship & America’s Southern Border – April 20
.
As explained on the face of this bulletin board for the immediately-preceding section, our April 20 meeting will focus 50% on the second portion of “The Dying Concept of Citizenship & America’s Southern Border” in general and MODERN SLAVERY, in particular.
“America’s Southern Border” is the site of most of our illegal-drug imports BUT IT IS ALSO THE SITE OF MOST OF OUR IMPORTS OF MODERN SLAVES.
When our 9/18/2019 meeting focused on the United Nation’s now-22-year-old “War on MODERN SLAVERY,” many of the things we learned were incorporated into the four “short quizzes” for that meeting which, together with their “suggested answers” are available at viewforum.php?f=554&sid=3933b746105ff3b ... 4524b27455.
The titles of those “short quizzes” were --
(1) The United Nations’ Sex Trafficking Movie
(2) The UN Reports on TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
(3) Sex Trafficking INTO the U.S.
(4) Sex Trafficking WITHIN the U.S.
The first “short quiz” for our 4/20/2022 meeting comprises the four 9/18/2019 “short quizzes.”
THE SECOND “SHORT QUIZ” FOR OUR 4/20/2022 MEETING WILL BE BASED ON MATERIAL IN OUR 4/20/2022 FOCUS BOOK, “THE DYING CITIZEN.”
Respectfully submitted,
HLS Classmate - 4 Topics
- 6 Posts
-
Last post
Missing Q&A 10
by HLS Classmate View the latest post
-
-
-
Reference Materials - The Dying Concept of Citizenship & America’s Southern Border – April 20
.
This section traditionally contains each month, among other things, book reviews.
However, I prefer the book-review excerpts contained in my “Original Proposal” available at viewtopic.php?f=685&t=2178&sid=16c4fa80 ... 1ad1f89a44.
As noted on the face of this bulletin board for the section containing the “Original Proposal” (the second-preceding section), our 9/18/2019 meeting focused on the United Nations’ now-22-year-old War on MODERN SLAVERY.
Accordingly, the Reference Materials for that meeting should be incorporated herewith. They are available at viewforum.php?f=552&sid=a6138a598863d71 ... 41c476285f and include --
(1) Text of the U.S. “Victims of Trafficking & Violence Protection Act of 2000”
(2) Victims of Trafficking and Violence – Renewals & Background
(3) The U.N. 90-page 2018 Global Report on TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
(4) The U.N. Press Release on its 2017 movie “Trafficked” --
[It played in first-run theaters and starred Ashley Judd (55 IMDb acting credits), Elisabeth Rȍhm (85 IMDb acting credits, one of which was “Law & Order Assistant D.A. Serena Southerlyn 2001-2005”), and Anne Archer (96 IMDb acting credits – one Oscar nomination & several Golden Globe wins).]
[Mses. Judd, Rȍhm and Archer donated their services.]
(5) The U.N. 126-page 2016 Global Report on TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
(6) The UN’s Conventions/Protocols Against Human Trafficking
(7) 2017 London Guardian Article Statistics on Human Trafficking
(8) Financial Times book review on Prof. Kara’s “Sex Trafficking”
[Prof. Siddharth Kara at that time was the Director of Harvard’s “Program on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery.”]
(9) Stanford U. book review on Prof. Kara’s “Sex Trafficking”
*****
In addition, the UN’s subsequently-published 176-page 2020 Biennial “Global Report on Human Trafficking” is available at https://www.unodc.org/unodc/data-and-an ... lotip.html.
Respectfully submitted,
HLS Classmate - 0 Topics
- 0 Posts
- No posts
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
RE-ACTIVATING EUROPEAN NUCLEA…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
The Ukraine Guarantee and Cri…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Original Proposal – America’s 1994 Written & Signed Guarantee Of Ukraine’s Independence and Territorial Integrity For Ukraine Surrendering Its 1,900 Nuclear Missiles – March 16
.
Unfortunately, our website was sabotaged on 2/18/2022.
And just as unfortunately, its contents had not been saved since 1/20/2022.
This section and its contents were originally created pre-dawn on 2/17/2022.
Accordingly, it is unclear whether the venom of the saboteur(s) was aimed at this section and its contents.
Or whether the venom of the saboteur(s) was aimed at the “Discussion Outline” section and the “Participant Comments” section for our 2/16/2022 meeting on the subject of “NYC Harvard Club Book Promotion – ‘Our Broken Elections: How The Left Changed The Way You Vote.’” - 1 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Authority For The 1,900 Ukrai…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
- 7 Topics
- 9 Posts
-
Last post
Righteous Indignation
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Short Quiz and Suggested Answers – America’s 1994 Written & Signed Guarantee Of Ukraine’s Independence and Territorial Integrity For Ukraine Surrendering Its 1,900 Nuclear Missiles – March 16
.
On occasion, we are forced to focus on a topic that neither the news media nor book publishers are willing to let ‘see the light of day.’ And America’s refusal to honor its commitment to Ukraine has grave implications for nuclear proliferation.
On such occasions, we use such materials as can be gleaned from the public record to piece together the frightening picture.
Since those materials are posted in the “Participant Comments” Section (as well as “Reference Materials”) for March 16, the Short Quiz and Suggested Answers are sequestered herewith in a separate section. - 2 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Follow-Up Re American Militar…
by HLS Classmate View the latest post
-
-
-
Reference Materials – America’s 1994 Written & Signed Guarantee Of Ukraine’s Independence and Territorial Integrity For Ukraine Surrendering Its 1,900 Nuclear Missiles – March 16
.
The 2/19/2021 weekly e-mail to our 196 members –
[Salutation & intro omitted.]
*****
MARCH 16 TOPIC – America’s 12/5/1994 Written & Signed Agreement That If Ukraine Surrendered Its 1,900 Missiles Containing Multiple-Nuclear-Warheads, America Would Guarantee The Independence And Territorial Integrity Of Ukraine
The Original Proposal is available at viewtopic.php?f=679&t=2157&sid=79edc08c ... 6b8839c0fa.
NB: There are two so-called replies to the original proposal that can be accessed by scrolling down from the Original Proposal. They can also be accessed directly –
(1) “Winston Churchill, Appeasement and The 1994 U.S. Guarantee of Ukraine’s Independence & Territory” at viewtopic.php?f=679&t=2157&p=2930&hilit ... c0fa#p2930; and
(2) “Authority For The 1,900 Ukrainian Nuclear Missiles Statistic” at viewtopic.php?f=679&t=2157&p=2931&hilit ... c0fa#p2931.
*****
READING MATERIALS (No Focus Book)
The Original Proposal begins –
“On occasion, we are forced to focus on a topic that neither the news media nor book publishers are willing to let ‘see the light of day.’ And America’s refusal to honor its commitment to Ukraine has grave implications for nuclear proliferation….. propose we focus on [America’s Signed Guarantee of Ukraine Independence/Territory If It Would Surrender Its 1,900 Nuclear Missiles] and its implications for nuclear proliferation. Using such materials as can be gleaned from the public record to piece together the frightening picture.”
During the next week, please read the Original Proposal and its two so-called replies.
And the transcript of Tim Russert’s 5/29/2005 “Meet The Press” interview of Former Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga and long-time Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee), Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN and long-time Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee), Thomas Kean & Lee Hamilton (Ch & Vice Ch of The 9/11 Commission), and Former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN) – ON THE SUBJECT OF OSAMA BIN LADEN’S FATWĀ TO NUKE 10 MILION AMERICANS.
[The transcript is discussed at length in the second so-called reply which contains a link to the transcript itself.]
Then please post any comments or questions in “Participant Comments.”
Or any articles, documents, etc., you think are noteworthy in “Reference Materials.”
Next week’s Short Quiz will take both into account.
Reading (1) the Original Proposal (including its two so-called replies), (2) the 5/29/2005 Meet The Press Transcript, and (3) the Short Quiz and Suggested Answers – will comprise this month’s reading assignment.
*****
[RSVP info omitted.] - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Official Text of the Guarante…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Discussion Outline – NYC Harvard Club Book Promotion – “Our Broken Elections: How the Left Changed the Way You Vote” – Feb 16
.
Unfortunately, our website was sabotaged on 2/18/2022.
And just as unfortunately, its contents had not been saved since 1/20/2022.
The contents of this section and the "Participant Comments" section for this meeting have been restored.
However, the number of views for EVERYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE between 1/20/2022 and 2/18/2022 can NOT be restored because that info is unknown.
This problem is most pronounced for the material relating to the Feb 16 meeting. - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Forcing/Encouraging The US Su…
by HLS Classmate View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Participant Comments – NYC Harvard Club Book Promotion - “Our Broken Elections: How the Left Changed the Way You Vote” – Feb 16
.
This section traditionally contains, inter alia, the monthly Short Quiz(zes) and Suggested Answers.
As explained at the beginning of this month’s Short Quiz posted in this section, its Questions are based on an EXPIRED 12/16/2020 Topic Proposal prompted by the NYC Harvard Club’s impending 12/22/2020 Zoom webinar entitled “How To Strengthen and Secure American Elections in the Wake of the 2020 Election” and featuring the nation’s foremost election-law expert, Prof. Richard H. Pildes of NYU School of Law (JD, Harvard Law School, 1983).
The reason for mentioning this here is that the 12/16/2020 Topic Proposal contained available for download three Adobe.pdf files that would, if the 12/16/2020 Topic Proposal had been accepted, have been posted in “Reference Materials” rather than “Participant Comments.”
That reason, explained (though it “beats around the bush” a bit) --
********************
THE 2005 FORMER-PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER AND FORMER SECRETARY-OF-STATE JAMES BAKER COMMISSION ON FEDERAL ELECTION REFORM
In the wake of the 2000 election litigation involving THREE U.S. Supreme Court decisions regarding the voting for President in Florida, the 2005 Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election reform featured among its 21 members such luminaries as Lee Hamilton (Co-Chair of The 9/11 Commission) and former Senate-Democrat Leader Tom Daschle.
The Commission issued a report with 87 recommendations.
The report was approved by a vote of 20-1.
The sole dissenter was a George Washington U. Law Professor whose views were eventually embodied in a “Response to the Report of the 2005 Commission on Federal Election Reform” authored by three “Associate Counsel” at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and by the George Washington U. Law Professor himself.
The “Response to the Report” focused primarily on “Photo ID’s” which the Commission had recommended be provided FREE for non-drivers.
Needless to say, nothing was done about Federal Election Reform.
*****
The foregoing information about the 2005 Commission is quoted from the aforementioned “Expired Proposed Topic: How To Secure Federal Elections Post-2020.”
Its Part B is entitled “The U.S. Supreme Court’s ‘How To Steal An Election’ Manual and is available at viewtopic.php?f=150&t=2006&p=2730&hilit ... d6ac#p2730.
The Sec. 5 of Part B (which, like Part B itself, is also entitled “The U.S. Supreme Court ‘How To Steal An Election’ Manual”) comprises the foregoing quotation and the beginning of its sixth section contains THREE REFERENCE MATERIALS available for download as Adobe.pdf files --
(1) The Sep 2005 Press Release of the Commission On Federal Tax Reform.
(2) The 113-page Report of the Commission.
(3) The 33-page Response to the Commission’s Report.
. - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Shor…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Reference Materials – NYC Harvard Club Book Promotion – “Our Broken Elections: How the Left Changed the Way You Vote” – Feb 16
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
**********
The WSJ book review is posted in this section.
NB: It was a combination book review which also covered Molly Hemingway’s “Rigged: How the Media, Big Tech, and the Democrats Seized Our Elections” (Regnery Publishing 10/12/2021 – 448 pages).
**********
The New York Times did NOT publish a book review of “Our Broken Elections” (Encounter Books 11/2/2021).
However, an “advanced search” on www.nytimes.com for “Spakovsky” since the 2020 election (NB: It is usually hopeless to specify a search term of more than one word such as “Broken Elections” and it is also hopeless to specify a search term based on Hans von Spakovsky’s co-author, John Fund) unearthed an informative news article about Republican strategy re state-by-state voting legislation.
Accordingly, “G.O.P. and Allies Draft ‘Best Practices’ for Restricting Voting” dated 3/23/2021 (updated 4/7/2021) is also posted in this section.
**********
The Washington Post also did NOT publish a book review of “Our Broken Elections.”
However, an “advanced search” on www.washingtonpost.com for “Spakovsky” since the 2020 election unearthed an informative news article about Republican strategy re state-by-state voting legislation.
It is also posted in this section despite the false claim in the article’s title that there was no “systematic voter fraud” in the 2020 election.
THIS PERSISTENT FALSE CLAIM HAS BEEN ADDRESSED AND DEBUNKED IN ONE OF OUR “EXPIRED” TOPIC PROPOSALS ENTITLED “HOW TO SECURE ELECTIONS POST-2020” AVAILABLE AT viewtopic.php?f=150&t=2006&sid=a91f51bf ... e8f3b72110.
[Sec. 3 of this website lists topic proposals. It also contains “expired” topic proposals that contain valuable info worth preserving.] - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Combination Book Review - "Ou…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Is U.S. Debt Held By Trust Fu…
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
RESOURCE MATERIALS FROM OUR 2…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 6 Topics
- 7 Posts
-
Last post
Sexist Comments
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – The Deficit Myth by Democratic Party Economic Guru, Prof. Stephanie Kelton – Jan 19
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
**********
The WSJ book review is posted in this section.
**********
The New York Times did NOT publish what they called a “book review.”
HOWEVER, they did publish an OpEd article on “The Deficit Myth” on 6/9/2020 by Stephanie Kelton, the same date that the Hard Cover version of her book was first released by her publisher.
That OpEd article is also posted in this section.
**********
The Washington Post has not published a book review of “The Deficit Myth.”
[An “advanced search” on www.washingtonpost.com discloses they have published no book reviews containing “Kelton” since well before the original-hard-cover 6/9/2020 publication date of “The Deficit Myth”.] - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
OpEd Article – “The Deficit M…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Shor…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by Jim Nathenson View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – President Obama’s Dept of Energy Under-Secretary for Science (Prof. Steven Koonin) on “Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters” – Dec 8
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
**********
The WSJ book review is posted in this section.
**********
The Washington Post did NOT publish what they called a “book review.”
HOWEVER, to their credit, the Washington Post did publish an OpEd on “Unsettled” which is posted in this section.
AFTER ALL, a book review is nothing more than an “Opinion Editorial” by the reviewer.
The Washington Post’s OpEd author is Mitch Daniels, the President of Purdue University and a former Governor of the State of Indiana.
NB: The nickname of Purdue University is “The Boil Makers” which is a reference to its stature as one of the nation’s top engineering universities.
For non-history majors, the Industrial Revolution was unleashed 200 years ago by the steam engine which meant that it was no longer necessary to confine to areas with water power (think the classic song “Down By The Old Mill Stream” and all the people you know named “Miller”) projects requiring more than human/animal power (think railroad trains and factories vs. the pyramids built by zillions of slaves).
Steam power, of course, required BOILERS in which the steam was generated.
**********
The New York Times has not published a book review of “Unsettled.”
[An “advanced search” on www.nytimes.com discloses they have published nothing containing “Koonin” since 4/22/2020 – which is more than 12 months BEFORE “Unsettled” was published.]
It would appear that the New York Times –
(1) is attempting to “cancel culture” Prof. Koonin’s “Unsettled,” or
(2) the New York Times couldn’t think of anything intelligent to say in response to “Unsettled.”
Full Disclosure --
In reading the previous sentence, please keep in mind that Yours Truly has “crossed swords” with the New York Times on many occasions, such as –
*****
(1) Their refusal to address “THE ROOT CAUSE OF RACISM (VS. A MERE SYMPTOM) – AMERICA’S PERMANENT 30% UNDER-CASTE” which was the subject of a 6/8/2020 letter to the NYT Editorial Page Editor which comprised, together with its attachments, my responses to the personal request of her predecessor Editorial Page Editor for a reaction to his own Editorial on 5/11/2020 entitled “Unlocking Human Potential.”
[My letter with attachments and the original “Unlocking Human Potential” editorial are available as a downloadable Adobe.pdf file at viewtopic.php?f=23&t=1925&p=2637&hilit= ... 3ed0#p2637.]
*****
(2) The refusal of ALL SIX of their regular OpEd Columnists ON THREE OCCASIONS 2010-2011 to “shine a light” on what was going down in my litigation against 15 of the world’s largest financial institutions for the $84 billion they owed me which I had long since pledged in legally binding fashion to benefit the education of 10 million inner-city children EVEN THOUGH EACH OF THE SIX NYT OPED COLUMNISTS KNEW THAT IF ANY ONE OF THEM LIFTED A SINGLE FINGER, 10 MILLION INNER-CITY CHILDREN MIGHT HAVE ESCAPED “A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH”!!!
The “Question Presented For Review” in the final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court (which the Court refused to hear) was –
[CONTINUED IN NEXT SECTION.] - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - Unsettled - Wal…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
CONTINUATION OF THE PREVIOUS SECTION
.
The “Question Presented For Review” in the final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court (which the Court refused to hear) was –
“Can state court judges order their decisions which they know are diametrically-opposed to well-settled law, not to be published or cited (a strategy labeled ‘the segregated toilet’ in correspondence with 51 inner-city clergy who represent the 10 million inner-city children who have been disclosed from the outset as the ‘real parties at interest’ in this law suit) in order to flush away the rights of the 10 million inner-city children without disturbing the rights of first-class American citizens -- without violating the ‘Equal Protection of the Law’ requirement of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution?”
[Zillions of legal documents, etc., relating to this litigation are posted in Sections 4 and 5 of this bulletin board entitled “Inner-City Holocaust and America’s Apartheid ‘Justice’ System (In Honor of Jonathan Kozol and In Memory of John Howard Griffin).” Copies of the 8/16/2010, 9/2/2010 and 5/18/2011 letters sent to 43 news-media super-stars INCLUDING ALL SIX NEW YORK TIMES OPED COLUMNISTS are available as downloadable Adobe.pdf files at viewtopic.php?f=211&t=767&sid=589500091 ... bb93cd3ed0. The first and third letters list at their respective closes the names, affiliations and addresses of the 43 super-stars.] - 0 Topics
- 0 Posts
- No posts
-
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
E-mail Campaign – Anthony Fau…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by Matt Lawlor View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Shor…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science Of The Immune System – Nov 10
.
Click here for book reviews of “An Elegant Defense” from –
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
TRADITIONALLY, each monthly “Reference Materials” section also includes a book review from The New York Times.
HOWEVER, it appears that The New York Times did NOT publish a book review of “An Elegant Defense” because its author is The New York Times’ own best-selling and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist – so who would believe that a review of a book by one of The Times’ own could be objective.
NEVERTHELESS, there appears on The New York Times website an undated essay by Matt Richtel entitled “How To Get The Best From Your Immune System.”
That essay is also posted here. - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - The Wall Street…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Pre-Meeting Exchange of Views…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Original Proposal – Revisiting The Issue Of Charter Schools: Stanford University vs. Stanford’s Hoover Institution – Oct 13
.
********************
Stanford University’s Indictment of Charter Schools –
“A national study in 2009 concluded that students in most charter schools performed no better than those in traditional public schools. Researchers at Stanford University, led by economist Margaret E. Raymond, analyzed data from 2,403 charter schools in fifteen states and the District of Columbia (about half of all charters and 70 percent of all charter students in the nation at the time) and found that 37 percent had learning gains that were significantly below those of local public schools; 46 percent had gains that were no different; and only 17 percent showed growth that was significantly better…The results were sobering, especially since the study was funded by such pro-charter groups as the Walton Family Foundation and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation.”
[Quotation from p. 142 of “The Life and Death of the Great American School System” by Diane Ravitch (NYU’s Research Professor of Education and a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education) – published 3/2/2010 by Basic Books and the focus book of our 9/12/2012 meeting.]
********************
“Legal Brief for The Defense” – from Stanford’s Hoover Institution
“Charter Schools and Their Enemies” by Thomas Sowell (Basic Books 6/30/2020 – 132 pages sans appendices-notes-index – Hardcover $18.69 + shipping or $18.99 Kindle from Amazon.com).
Presumably Thomas Sowell will recognize Stanford University and its 2009 study as the CHIEF ENEMY of charter schools.
And hopefully, he will have more recent information on the effectiveness of charter schools – or lack thereof.
After all, we observed on both 9/12/2012 when we focused on Prof. Ravitch’s “Death and Life” and 6/17/2015 when we focused on her "Reign of Error, the Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to American Public Schools" (Alfred E. Knopf 9/17/2013) –
(1) The relatively-poor performance of charter schools in 2009 came despite their admitting only students of parents who were functional enough to apply and then expelling students who did not meet performance standards.
(2) The relatively-poor performance of charter schools in 2009 appeared to be the result of inadequate governmental-regulation standards – many of their teachers had no qualifications and, indeed, quite a few charter schools were headed by former public-school janitors who seized their opportunities to leap from bottom to top.
Indeed, we remarked in our 9/12/2012 e-mail campaign to President Obama that charter schools staffed by unqualified personnel “makes no more sense than closing a police precinct in whose jurisdiction a crime is committed and hiring amateurs in their place.”
BTW, Prof. Ravitch liked that comment so much that she included it, without attribution, in “Reign of Error.”
NB: We are delighted when anyone appropriates our ideas, with or without attribution. - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 7 Topics
- 7 Posts
-
Last post
Stanford: The Gold Standard f…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – Revisiting The Issue Of Charter Schools: Stanford University vs. Stanford’s Hoover Institution – Oct 13
.
The original 8/15/2021 proposal of “Charter Schools and Their Enemies” (which is posted in the second-preceding section of this website) closed with an explanation of what would ordinarily posted in this “Resources Materials” section – and the five items that are actually posted in this section – by saying –
*****
In the investigation before making this recommendation, the following items were consulted which merit the attention of our readers –
(1) “Thomas Sowell Goes To Bat for Charter Schools. Whiffs.” – a book review https://www.realclearpolitics.com/artic ... hiffs.html.
[No reaction to Thomas Sowell’s “Charter Schools and Their Enemies” could be found by either of the major teachers’ unions. However, this book review was written by Glenn Sacks who teaches social studies and is co-chairman of United Teachers Los Angeles at James Monroe High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District; he was recently recognized by LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner for "exceptional levels of performance."]
(2) “If Government Won’t Protect Students, Teachers Unions Will” – another essay by Glenn Sacks at https://www.realclearpolitics.com/artic ... 43711.html.
(3) “Thomas Sowell Has Been Right From the Start - His latest book on charter schools continues his research on minority success in education.” – WSJ book review of “Charter Schools and Their Enemies” by Jason Riley, member of the WSJ editorial board – at https://www.wsj.com/articles/thomas-sow ... 1595372217.
(4) “The Collapsing Case against Charter Schools” – National Review book review at https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine ... r-schools/.
(5) A contemporaneous (3 days before book release) OpEd by Thomas Sowell entitled “Charter schools are the best way to wipe out educational disparity” at https://nypost.com/2020/06/27/charter-s ... disparity/.
NB: Traditionally, after a book has been selected as our focus, we post in the “Reference Materials” section for that meeting, book reviews by –
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
The WSJ book review is Item No. 3 above.
No book reviews by the NY Times and Washington Post could be found.
***** - 5 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review – Co-Chair of Uni…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Addendum – Governmental Progr…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal - Discrimin…
by Jim Nathenson View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Shor…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – Discrimination and Disparities by Thomas Sowell – Sept 8
.
Usually each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –
The New York Times;
The Wall Street Journal; and
The Washington Post
HOWEVER, an advanced search (“Sowell” from 1/1/2018 to 8/18/2021) of the websites of all three publications confirms that none of them reviewed “Discrimination and Disparities” – either the original 2018 edition or the revised & enlarged 2019 edition.
ACCORDINGLY, posted in this section are book reviews from the three most-prominent publications from which Amazon.com excerpted book-review quotations for its current listing of the revised & enlarged 2019 edition –
The New York Journal of Books
The Federalist
The Washington Times
NB: All three publications reviewed only the original 2018 version.
A book review of the revised & enlarged 2019 version was found and has also been posted in this section from –
The Associated Press News
In addition, there is posted an interview of Thomas Sowell by the Editor-in-Chief of The Washington Examiner that occurred 5/22/2018 in the wake of the original edition. - 5 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - The New York Jo…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
The Incompetence of The Globa…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by GeorgeKunath View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
CBS “60 Minutes” Interview of…
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal – “1620: A …
by GeorgeKunath View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – The Non-Partisan Public-Policy Issues of Whether, For Example, Michael Lewis’ “The Premonition: A Pandemic Story” Is A Classic Political “Hit Piece” and Whether, As Such, It Should Be (vs. Is) Protected by Freedom Of Speech – Aug 11
.
Our Aug 11 meeting will address the public-policy issue of WHAT AN ATROCITY the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1964 decision in “New York Times vs. Sullivan” was because it has produced IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE virtually nothing but lies to the public while pols do NOT dare lie to campaign contributors.
Click here for three reference materials –
*****
The Text of the U.S. Supreme Court Opinions – New York Times vs. Sullivan
*****
New York Times vs. Sullivan – Wikipedia
Ordinarily, we view Wikipedia articles as only as good as their footnotes.
HOWEVER, this article is reasonably-well written and provides necessary context.
*****
Text of The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
These rules govern procedure in civil cases in U.S. District Courts.
Our Aug 11 meeting will address (1) the Supreme Court’s “NY Times vs. Sullivan” requirement FOR PUBLIC OFFICIALS to prove either “ACTUAL MALICE” or "RECKLESS DISREGARD FOR THE TRUTH," (2) how satisfying this additional Olympic “High Hurdle” by public officials should be a “slam dunk” in the case of Michael Lewis and “The Premonition” AS A THEORETICAL MATTER, and (3) how satisfying this Olympic “High Hurdle” in the case of Michael Lewis and “The Premonition” AS A PRACTICAL MATTER is probably impossible because any jury would be likely to have at least one “Trump Hater” who has lied her/his way onto the jury.
The reason for The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as a Reference Material???
Evidence of “actual malice” on the parts of Michael Lewis, his editor and his publisher should be readily obtainable as all of their files have to be turned over to the plaintiff(s) under the “discovery rules” of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and as their depositions are then taken “under penalties of perjury.”
**********************************************************
Our Status as a NON-PARTISAN Public-Policy Study/Action Organization
It is impossible to analyze the “public policy” of the Supreme Court's decision in New York Times vs. Sullivan (376 U.S. 254 (1964)) and its progeny limiting defamation of public officials or candidates for public office to cases involving ACTUAL MALICE or RECKLESS DISREGARD FOR THE TRUTH (the progeny extended this limitation to defamation of “public figures”) without a real-life example involving a public official or candidate for public office. Since U.S. democracy essentially runs on a two-party system, any example of a public official or candidate for public office will, virtually of necessity, involve either a Republican or a Democrat.
[BTW, John Karls, who has been the facilitator of our organization for its 16 years of existence, does NOT have a vote at our monthly meetings for the focus book for the following month.]
. - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Text of the U.S. Supreme Cour…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 5 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Seco…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – “1620: A Critical Response To The 1619 Project” by Peter Wood – July 14
.
Usually each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from -
The New York Times;
The Wall Street Journal; and
The Washington Post
HOWEVER, Peter Wood’s “1620: A Critical Response To The 1619 Project,” though a significant part of the overall picture, is far from achieving a thorough understanding of why “The 1619 Project” has become such an explosive political issue in America as dozens of states have banned, or are considering banning, the teaching of “The 1619 Project” in their public schools -- after all, Peter Wood's "1620" was published last Fall.
ACCORDINGLY, a much broader understanding of the controversy is provided by the Wikipedia article “The 1619 Project” which is posted in this section.
ORDINARILY, we view Wikipedia articles as only as good as their footnotes.
NEVERTHELESS, this Wikipedia article contains an excellent collection of footnotes and appears to comprise as of this date (15 June 2021) the best-available overview of the controversy.
BTW, the “Participant Comments” for our 7/14/2021 meeting (which should appear just above this section if you scroll up) contains as its first posting (which will probably appear at the bottom of that section’s postings since the bulletin-board software always lists them in reverse-chronological order) a transcript “Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on ‘Face The Nation’ June 6” vis-à-vis her comments about The 1619 Project.
Although the transcript of her comments comprises quasi-reference materials, they were enclosed in our weekly 6/12/2021 e-mail to our 195 members to explain how John Karls was responding to queries about where he stands on “The 1619 Project” and Peter Wood’s “1620: A Critical Response To The 1619 Project.” - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
The 1619 Project - Wikipedia …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Meeting Report - June 9
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Crimes Against Humanity Per T…
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Reforming Law Enforcement Lab…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Shor…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Resource Materials – “Predict & Surveil: Data, Discretion & the Future of Policing” by Prof. Sarah Brayne – June 9
.
Click here for –
(1) Science Magazine’s book review of Prof. Brayne’s “Predict and Surveil: Data, Discretion” (Oxford University Press 11/2/2020).
(2) The official text of U.S. Senator Tim Scott’s 2020 JUSTICE Act and the official section-by-section analysis of the bill.
(3) The transcript of Sen. Tim Scott’s tearful speech in the U.S. Senate following the failure of the JUSTICE Act to achieve 60 votes on 6/24/2020 so that it could be considered. The 55-45 vote was the “death knell” for any federal police-reform legislation last year.
[NB: Per Sen. Scott’s speech, he offered Democrats votes on 20 amendments to address their perceived shortcomings of the JUSTICE Act but, per the NY Times 6/24/2020 article “Senate Democrats Block GOP Police Bill Calling It Inadequate,” Democrats refused to accept the offer because any amendment would itself have needed 60 votes to pass.]
[NB: On 3/3/2021, the House of Representatives passed again their 2020 police-reform bill on a 220-212 party-line vote but, per the NY Times 3/4/2021 article “The House Passes A Policing Overhaul Bill Named For George Floyd, Whose Death Spurred Nationwide Protests,” the moving force behind the bill (Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) who has been negotiating for more than a year with Sen. Tim Scott on such legislation) said “There is tremendous good faith between Senator Scott and me” but conceded that there has been a “loss in momentum” for such legislation since last summer.] - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Science Magazine Book Review …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Nuclear-Powered Food Factorie…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal - Bill Gate…
by Dennis Cecchini View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Seco…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – “How To Avoid A Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need” by Bill Gates – May 12
.
Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” Section includes book reviews from The NY Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. This month –
(1) The NY Times published a book review which is available in this section.
(2) The Wall Street Journal appears NOT to have published a conventional book review. Instead, The Wall Street Journal Magazine published a full-length article on “How To Avoid A Climate Disaster.” It is available in this section.
(2) The Washington Post appears NOT to have published a conventional book review. Instead, The Washington Post Magazine published a full-length article. However, its focus includes not only “How To Avoid A Climate Disaster” but also two other topics – (A) COVID, and (B) whether Bill Gates has too much influence. The article is available in this section. - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
How To Avoid A Climate Disast…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Cancel Culture and Freedom of…
by GeorgeKunath View the latest post
-
-
Participant Comments – “Cancel Culture: The Latest Attack on Free Speech and Due Process” by Prof. Alan Dershowitz – April 7
.
Click here for our Short Quiz entitled “Big Tech’s Attempts to Cancel Reading Liberally.”
In short, Big Tech was upset that we focused 4 times on FISA and Authoritarian Rule By Our Intelligence Services.
By doing so, Big Tech was cancelling indirectly the champions of the non-FISA solution to terrorism --
1. Tim Russert the Moderator of Meet the Press 1991-2008 and the NBC’s Washington Bureau Chief 1990-2008;
2. Tom Brokaw the Anchor and Managing Editor of the NBC Nightly News 1982-2004;
3. Graham Allison the Founding Dean of Harvard U’s Kennedy School of Government 1977-1989 and (after serving as President Clinton’s Assistant Secretary of Defense for Policy and Plans 1993-1994) the Director of Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs 1995-2017;
4. U.S. Senator Sam Nunn - D-GA and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman 1987-1995;
5. U.S. Senator Richard Lugar - R-IN and Senate Foreign Relations Chairman 2003-2007;
6. Thomas Kean - Chair of The 9/11 Commission; and
7. Lee Hamilton - Co-Chair of The 9/11 Commission. - 3 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
Civil and Criminal Liability …
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
-
Reference Materials – “Cancel Culture: The Latest Attack on Free Speech and Due Process” by Prof. Alan Dershowitz – April 7
.
Normally the "Reference Materials" section each month includes book reviews of our focus book from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.
A review of all search results from Googling “Dershowitz” combined with, as an exact phrase “Cancel Culture” shows that there were no reviews by the NYT, WSJ or WaPo (or, for that matter, hardly any other media outlets).
This despite Prof. Alan Dershowitz being --
1. Perhaps the most celebrated criminal- and constitutional-law expert in the world;
2. The youngest full professor in Harvard Law School history, where he is now the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus;
3. The author of numerous bestselling books, including “Chutzpah,” “Guilt by Accusation,” “The Best Defense to Reversal of Fortune” (which was made into an Academy Award–winning film), “Defending Israel,” etc., etc., etc.;
4. A trusted adviser of presidents and prime ministers;
5. Defense counsel for many prominent men and women (e.g., Claus von Bülow, NYC Rabbi Avi Weiss against Warsaw Poland Cardinal Jȯzef Glemp re Glemp’s comments when Weiss visited Auschwitz, O.J. Simpson, Jeffrey Epstein, Julian Assange, Harvey Weinstein and Donald Trump, in the first impeachment trial on the narrow issue of whether the U.S. Constitution’s requirement of a “high crime or misdemeanor” can be ignored) -- half of them pro bono; and
6. A life-long Democrat and long-time Board Member of the National American Civil Liberties Union (aka ACLU) -- NB: in June 2018 he wrote an Op-Ed criticizing the ACLU as having become a hyper-partisan organization that is no longer a group of politically diverse individuals sharing a commitment to core civil liberties.
IT WOULD APPEAR THAT THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL AND THE WASHINGTON POST ARE NOW ATTEMPTING TO “CANCEL” PROFESSOR DERSHOWITZ!!! - 0 Topics
- 0 Posts
- No posts
-
-
- 2 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Administrative Post
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
The New Map - Energy, Climate…
by GeorgeKunath View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Pres. Biden’s Global Warming …
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
Resource Materials – “The New Map: Energy, Climate & the Clash of Nations” by Pulitzer-Prize Winner Daniel Yergin – March 10
.
Click here for, inter alia, book reviews from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - The New Map - T…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 2 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Pinker Ignores United Nations…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials - “Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Prof. Steven Pinker – Feb 10
.
Click here for, inter alia, our traditional line-up of full-length book reviews from the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.
This month is unusual because the NY Times had TWO book reviews of our focus book.
In case you don’t have time to read all four book reviews, the credentials of the four reviewers are –
*****
New York Times – March 1, 2018 – review by –
Jannifer Szalai who is the Non-Fiction Book Critic for the New York Times. She was previously an editor for The New York Times Book Review and a senior editor for book reviews at Harper’s Magazine.
*****
New York Times – March 4, 2018 – review by –
Sarah Bakewell who teaches creative writing at Oxford U and is the author of five books, one of which won Yale U’s Windham-Campbell Literature Prize for Non-Fiction in 2018.
*****
Wall Street Journal – April 6, 2018 – review by –
Yoram Hazony who is the author of “The Virtue of Nationalism,” forthcoming from Basic, and an Israeli philosopher, Bible scholar and political theorist. He is president of the Herzl Institute in Jerusalem, and serves as the chairman of the Edmund Burke Foundation. Hazony founded the Shalem Center in Jerusalem in 1994, and was president and then provost until 2012. He designed the curriculum for Shalem College, Israel's first liberal arts college, established in 2013.
*****
Washington Post – February 23, 2018 – review by –
Prof. Caroline Winterer who is Stanford U’s William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies. From 2013-2019, she was the Director of the Stanford Humanities Center. Among her many books is “American Enlightenments: Pursuing Happiness in the Age of Reason.” - 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - New York Times …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Shor…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by GeorgeKunath View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Re: Meeting Report - Civiliza…
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal - Civilizat…
by GeorgeKunath View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Seco…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – Civilization: The West and the Rest by Prof. Niall Ferguson – Jan 13
.
Click on this section for our traditional full-length book reviews by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.
In addition, there follows below a so-called “Capsule Review” in the Nov/Dec 2011 issue of Foreign Affairs Magazine by Prof. G. John Ikenberry.
[Ikenberry is the Albert G. Milbank Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton U and Co-Director of Princeton’s Center for International Security Studies. The author of eight books and editor or co-editor of another 14, he has won numerous awards, was ranked 10th in scholars who have produced the best work in the field of International Relations in the past 20 years, and ranked 8th in scholars who have produced the most interesting work in the past 5 years.]
Ikenberry’s “Capsule Review” of Prof. Ferguson’s “Civilization: The West and the Rest” -
"This enjoyably sprawling history of “the rise of the West,” written for a general audience, follows in the footsteps of major works by such scholars as John Darwin, Jared Diamond, William NcNeill, and Douglass North. Like them, Ferguson grapples with the grand puzzle of the modern world: Why did the West, which in 1500 was no more advanced than the other world civilizations -- most notably China, India, and Islam -- rise up over the following five centuries to amass great power and wealth and come to dominate the world? Ferguson rejects explanations that focus on European imperialism or the uniqueness of geography, climate, or culture. Instead, he argues that Western ascendency was unleashed by the uniquely decentralized, open, rule-based, and competitive character of European politics, economics, and society. Individual chapters look at the role of competition, science, property rights, medicine, consumer society, and the work ethic in distinguishing the West. The book is written with an eye on the rise of China and leaves the reader with a crucial question: Are the ideas and institutions of Western civilization becoming truly universal, or will the rise of non-Western states usher in alternative pathways to modernization and advancement?" - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Civilization - Book Review - …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal - Great Soc…
by GeorgeKunath View the latest post
-
-
Participant Comments - Great Society: A New History by Amity Shlaes - Dec 9
.
The face of Sec. 1 of this website entitled “General Info” closes with the following -
*****
SIGNING UP TO POST ON THIS BULLETIN BOARD
Due to sabotage and porn attacks, only attendees of one or more of our meetings are permitted to post on this bulletin board.
If you have attended one of our meetings and would like to register to post something, please send an E-mail to ReadingLiberally-SaltLake@johnkarls.com with the subject, “Please Register Me For The Bulletin Board.”
*****
Unfortunately, this section includes a posting entitled “Dorothy Roberts Following Thomas Sowell 'Over The Cliff' !!!” which attracted derogatory ANONYMOUS emojis.
We, of course, do NOT mind postings that explain objections, so that our other members can evaluate what has been said and, if they wish, comment on what has been said.
HOWEVER, the anonymous emoji sabotage requires us to lock this section.
If anyone (EVEN IF S/HE IS NOT ONE OF OUR 189 MEMBERS, MUCH LESS AMONG THE 40 OF OUR 189 MEMBERS WHO HAVE REGISTERED TO POST COMMENTS ON THIS BULLETIN BOARD) would like to post a negative comment that explains the basis for the negativity – rather than a mere anonymous emoji – please send an e-mail to Readingliberally-SaltLake@johnkarls.com and we pledge to post any such negative comment no matter how outrageous.
[Though, of course, we do not guarantee that such a negative comment will not itself be the subject of further comment by others.]
Respectfully submitted,
John Karls
December 2, 2020 - 4 Topics
- 6 Posts
-
Last post
The Promised Final Report on …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Great Society - Book Review -…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Shor…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - The Square and …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Chapter 4 Perpetuating The 20…
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Seco…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
The Human Network Book Review…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Innocent Children Cursed By P…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
The Revolutionary Lives of Ma…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
My Lived Experience With Syst…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
The Sword and The Shield Book…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – "Tightrope: Americans Reaching For Hope" by Pulitzer-Prize Winners Sheryl WuDunn and Husband, NY Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof – Aug 12
.
Please click here for book reviews by The New York Times, The Washington Post and The National Review. - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Tightrope - Book Review - The…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 4 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
Q&A-26 of the Second Short Qu…
by Pat View the latest post
-
- 9 Topics
- 9 Posts
-
Last post
Tightrope and “Whiteness” Per…
by GeorgeKunath View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Our E-mails Requested By The …
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – “The Age of Addiction: How Bad Habits Became Big Business” by Prof. David Courtwright – July 8
.
The immediately-preceding section “Participant Comments” contains, inter alia, The First Short Quiz entitled “Titillating Treasure-Hunt Tidbits” which starts with an explanation --
“[‘Treasure Hunt’ because most of the answers are contained in the immediately-following ‘Reference Materials’ Section of www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org for our July 8 meeting.]”
The initial set of postings in this section from which the answers might have come are --
Re “Age of Addiction” by David Courtwirght (Harvard U Press 5/6/2019) -- our focus book --
1. Book Review of “Age of Addiction” from the Washington Free Beacon
2. An interview of our author, Prof. David Courtwright, about “Age of Addiction” by www.vox.com
Re: “Dark Paradise: A History of Opiate Addiction in America” by David Courtwright (Harvard U Press – a 2001 newly-enlarged edition of the original 1982 version) --
3. New York Times Editorial on 4/21/2018 entitled “An Opioid Crisis Foretold” giving full credit to David Courtwright’s “Dark Paradise”
4. Book Review of “Dark Paradise” in the Johns Hopkins Bulletin Of History Of Medicine (Vol 77 No 1 – Spring 2003) by Prof. Nancy D. Campbell, Chairman of the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Re: “Forces of Habit: Drugs and the Making of the Modern World” by David Courtwright (Harvard U. Press 1/1/2001) --
5. Book Review in Psychology Today Magazine 7/1/2001
6. Book Review published by The University of Massachusetts Medical School upon the paperback release of “Forces of Habit” in 2009
Miscellaneous – Historical Review
7. Article by David Courtwright in The New England Journal of Medicine 11/26/2015 entitled “Preventing and Treating Narcotic Addiction – A Century of Federal Drug Control”
NB: The first of David Courtwright’s four opuses (or should that be “opi”) was “Addicts Who Survived: An Oral History of Narcotics Use in America” -- which, like “Dark Paradise” has two versions dated 1982 and 2001, has two versions dated 1989 and 2012. - 7 Topics
- 7 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review of “Age of Addict…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
The Presidential Debates
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
McCAIN-FEINGOLD - MONEY & POL…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Original Proposal – Jonathan Kozol “The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America” and Free Tuition for Public Colleges and Vocational Schools – Mtg Date TBD
.
Our next meeting will be Wed evening June 3 at our traditional time of 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm MDT.
We anticipate that participation will be solely on-line via Zoom (the Salt Lake Library, our host for 14.5 years, has cancelled all meeting reservations through Aug 31).
If you RSVP, there is nothing further you need to do such as any special training. We will send all RSVP’s a few days in advance a URL and meeting name/password.
[4/10/2020 update] - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Participant Comments – Jonathan Kozol “The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America” and Free Tuition for Public Colleges and Vocational Schools – Mtg Date TBD
.
Our next meeting will be Wed evening June 3 at our traditional time of 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm MDT.
We anticipate that participation will be solely on-line via Zoom (the Salt Lake Library, our host for 14.5 years, has cancelled all meeting reservations through Aug 31).
If you RSVP, there is nothing further you need to do such as any special training. We will send all RSVP’s a few days in advance a URL and meeting name/password.
[4/10/2020 update] - 9 Topics
- 11 Posts
-
Last post
Administrative Post
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Reference Materials – Jonathan Kozol “The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America” and Free Tuition for Public Colleges and Vocational Schools – June 3
.
Click here for, inter alia, the texts of the opinions in the three U.S. Supreme Court cases referenced in the First Short Quiz --
(1) Plessy vs. Ferguson (1986), the Supreme Court’s NOTORIOUS decision APPROVING SEGREGATION with its INFAMOUS “Separate But Equal” proclamation!!!
[The decision was 7-1 with one Justice not participating. The dissent starts about half-way through the report.]
(2) Brown vs. Board of Education (1954), the Supreme Court’s UNANIMOUS 9-0 opinion that SEPARATE IS INHERENTLY UNEQUAL!!!
(3) Parents vs. Seattle School District No. 1 (2007), the Supreme Court’s NOTORIOUS decision which is aptly described in the title our focus book “The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America” by Jonathan Kozol.
[Jonathan Kozol was describing conditions in America’s inner-city schools between 1990 and 2005 when his book was published. However, those conditions reflected lower-court cases that were percolating through the judicial system prior to Parents vs. Seattle School District No. 1 which was the “kiss of death” two years after publication.]
**********
Notes re Parents vs. Seattle School District No. 1 --
Whereas it took the Supreme Court only the equivalent of 16.5 Microsoft Word pages in Plessy vs. Ferguson TO APPROVE SEGREGATION, and only the equivalent of 7.5 Microsoft Word pages in Brown vs. Board of Education TO REVERSE THAT ABOMINATION, the Supreme Court took 185 Adobe.pdf pages in Parents vs. Seattle School District No. 1 TO JUSTIFY (at least in their minds) “THE RESTORATION OF APARTHEID SCHOOLING IN AMERICA”!!!
There were five opinions --
(1) The opinion of the Court by Chief Justice Roberts beginning at page 8 of the Adobe.pdf file posted in this Reference Materials Section. He was joined by Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas and Alito with respect to Parts I, II, III-A, III-C of his opinion for a five-Justice majority. Only Justices Scalia, Thomas and Alito joined Chief Justice Roberts with respect to Parts III-B and IV of his opinion, which were immaterial to the outcome so that Justice Kennedy’s failure to join in those parts is only dicta (i.e., not worth the paper they’re written on for purposes of precedent).
(2) A concurrence by Justice Thomas beginning at page 49 of the Adobe.pdf file posted in this Reference Materials Section.
(3) A concurrence by Justice Kennedy beginning at page 85 of the Adobe.pdf file posted in this Reference Materials Section.
(4) A dissent by Justice Stevens beginning at page 103.
(5) A dissent by Justice Breyer joined by Justices Stevens, Souter and Ginsberg beginning at page 109. - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Plessy vs Ferguson - Text of …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Discussion Outline – Money in Politics – March 18
.
Or in other words, "The Best Government Money Can Buy"!!! - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Conducting Our March 18 Mtg b…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 6 Topics
- 6 Posts
-
Last post
Bloomberg Drops Out -- Tradit…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
CALL TO ACTION - Meeting Noti…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Feb 19 Meeting Report – Propo…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 6 Topics
- 6 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Quiz
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Stating the case for “SLAVERY…
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
CALL TO ACTION: ONLY 5 MINUTE…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Topic Announcement to Our 169…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Suggested Discussion Outline – “REPRISE: A Marshall-Type Plan For Palestinians” – Jan 15
.
VENUE
IAW long-standing policy, we meet at the Salt Lake Public Library (210 East 400 South) -- UNLESS, as reminded in the last two weekly e-mails, the RSVP’s vote UNANIMOUSLY to change the venue to better suit their convenience. [Many of our regulars who meet in person (vs. via Skype) including Yours Truly, live in southern Salt Lake County.]
The RSVP’s have tentatively voted UNANIMOUSLY to change the venue from Conference Room A at the Salt Lake Public Library.
HOWEVER, as explained in our weekly e-mail sent to our 169 members pre-dawn Sat Jan 11, if anyone had not yet RSVP'd and wanted to meet at the Library, we would accommodate her/him if s/he RSVP'd by 8:00 pm Sun Jan 12. Nobody did so. - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Participant Comments – “REPRISE: A Marshall-Type Plan For Palestinians” – Jan 15
.
*****
REPORT ON THE SUCCESS OF TWO E-MAIL CAMPAIGNS
Many of the e-mail campaigns listed in Sec. 1 of this website have been successful.
Although progress on these TWO campaigns does NOT relate to this month’s topic, they occurred LAST WEEK at the 12/19/2019 Presidential Debate.
*****
Re Climate Change, Andrew Yang Championing Our Thorium-Fission Position --
Our Thorium-Fission Working Group has labored long and hard in order to, inter alia, request Presidential Candidates to support the development of thorium-fission as the only way of “Solving Global Warming 100% Without Military Action.” [Details of that effort are available at http://discussingliberally-saltlake.org ... =23&t=1781.]
At the Dec 19 debate, Andrew Yang could not have been more specific and more supportive.
[A transcript of the debate is available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... ic-debate/. The easiest way to find Andrew Yang’s remarks on thorium fission is to “cut and paste” the transcript into a Microsoft-Word document and then execute “Edit-Find” for “thorium.”]
*****
“REPRISE: Saving The Gov $86 Billion/YEAR – Medicare-For-All” and the Candidates’ Initial Reaction --
Our 7/12/2017 E-mail Campaign was entitled “SAVING THE GOV $300 BILLION/YEAR – MEDICARE FOR ALL” – details available at http://discussingliberally-saltlake.org ... =23&t=1631.
It was aimed at Sen. John McCain a mere 16 days before his iconic “thumb down” vote against “Repealing and Replacing” Obamacare, which caused it to fail by one vote.
The attendees of our 11/13/2019 meeting voted for our 12/11/2019 meeting to focus on updating this E-mail Campaign because of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s DEFAMATION of Medicare For All by claiming that it would cost the Federal Government $52 TRILLION over 10 years – which is 41% over current Gov and non-Gov healthcare spending of only $3,683 billion/year -- which itself is DOUBLE the amount of only $1,944 billion/year if it were brought into line with the other 35 economically-developed countries in the OECD.
Our revised e-mail (“REPRSE: Saving The Gov $86 Billion/YEAR – Medicare-For-All”) is available at http://discussingliberally-saltlake.org ... =23&t=1869.
[Virtually all of the difference between $300 Billion/YEAR of SAVINGS and $86 Billion/YEAR of SAVINGS is due to the fact that, beginning in 2018, the Corporate Income Tax Rate was reduced from 35% to 21%. Which means that the COST to the government of the 55.1% of the U.S. population that obtains employer-provided health coverage (since it is deductible for the employer BUT non-taxable to the employee) was reduced to only 11.6% of the U.S. population having employer-provided health coverage provided courtesy of lost government tax revenues.]
At last Thursday’s debate, there was no mention of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s exorbitant estimate.
The main fireworks occurred between Sen. Bernie Sanders on the one hand, and Former V.P. Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Klobuchar, on the other. Which focused primarily on Sanders accusing Biden & Klobuchar of NOT being willing to fight bloated healthcare costs.
Indeed, Sanders actually paraphrased, a bit inaccurately, a point we have been making since 2017 that (quoting Sanders) “we’re spending twice as much per capita on health care as any other nation.”
Presumably by next month’s debate, there will be statements by other candidates about bringing U.S. healthcare costs into line with the other 35 economically-developed countries that are members of the OECD. - 6 Topics
- 6 Posts
-
Last post
The Aim of The Proposed E-mai…
by Pat View the latest post
-
-
- 6 Topics
- 6 Posts
-
Last post
Democrat Frontrunners Wrong O…
by Pat View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
REPRISE: Saving The Gov $86 B…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 5 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Seco…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
The Price We Pay - Interview …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
The Call To Action
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Original Proposal - Possible Global Warming Solution (Hydrogen Extraction) In Danger Of Being Killed!!! - Nov 13
.
This section contains two postings.
The second is the actual Original Proposal which was reviewed in detail before being unanimously adopted at our 11/13/2019 meeting by the attendees of our 10/16/2019 meeting.
It comprises 3,625 words and runs to more than 9 Microsoft Word pages (standard margins and Times New Roman - 12).
Accordingly, the first posting was the actual announcement that was sent to our 162 members in our weekly Saturday/pre-dawn e-mail on Saturday October 19.
It serves, in effect, as an Executive Summary for the actual Original Proposal.
BTW, it contains a cross-link to the Original Proposal which is the second posting in this section.
For the curious, the cross-link to the Original Proposal in our Oct 19 e-mail to our members was “http://discussingliberally-saltlake.org ... 0c6776ca27.” Such cross-links in an external document or e-mail to items posted on this bulletin board, when the external document or e-mail is itself posted on this bulletin board, are automatically converted by this bulletin board (in this case to "viewtopic.php?f=561&t=1834"). - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Actual Announcement To Our 16…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 4 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
Using Nuclear Energy To Produ…
by Cal Burgart View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
HydrogenExtraction-Goldschmid…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal - Tech Tita…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Shor…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Forbes – 9/8/2019 article by …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
9/18/2019: The U.N. Campaign …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Original Proposal – Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery – Sep 18
.
Our next meeting is Wednesday evening, Sept 18th, at the Salt Lake Public Library (210 East 400 South) in Conference Room A which is on the lower level --
(1) At the foot of the grand staircase leading down from the Atrium; and/or
(2) Accessible by the elevator just inside the EAST entrance (NB: the regular elevators lead to a portion of the lower level that DOES NOT CONNECT WITH the portion of the lower level containing Conference Rooms A - C.
Please join us for socializing from 6:15 pm > 7:00 pm or, if you prefer, come only from 7:00 pm > 8:55 pm for our formal discussion.
We provide coffee/decaf and chocolate-chunk cookies and peanut-butter cookies.
Or bring your own snack(s) from the branch of the Salt Lake Roasting Co. on the first floor of the library, from Dunkin’ Donuts directly across 400 South from the library’s main entrance, or from home.
[Everyone is welcome to join us afterwards half a block south at Cannella's for drinks to socialize and/or continue the discussion -- everyone is welcome but Dutch treat.]
. - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal - Sex Traff…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 8 Topics
- 8 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Four…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery – Sep 18
.
FASCINATING FINDS WHILE RESEARCHING --
The movie “Taken” (2008) starring Liam Neeson followed by “Taken 2” in 2012 and “Taken 3” in 2014 started in the 2008 movie with the daughter of Liam Neeson’s character being KIDNAPPED IN PARIS FOR SALE AS A SEX SLAVE.
It didn’t take much research to ascertain that “Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery” by Siddharth Kara (Columbia U. Press 2009) is “The Bible” on the subject.
Surprises???
(A) Sex Trafficking was already the subject of a 30-page United Nations Convention Against Organized Crime (11/15/2000) buttressed by a 9-page United Nations Protocol “To Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children” (12/25/2003) and a 12-page United Nations Protocol “Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea” (1/28/2004)!!!
(B) On 3/18/2009, one of Washington DC’s “Top 5 Liberal Think Tanks” (Foreign Policy in Focus) trashed Prof. Kara’s “Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery” AND, BY IMPLICATION, TRASHED THE UNITED NATIONS (!!!) on the grounds that is it senseless to try to counter “the world’s oldest profession”!!!
(C) HOWEVER, in 2016 the United Nations published its 126-page “Global Report on TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS” (original capitalization).
(D) AND IN 2017 the United Nations released a movie entitled “Trafficked” starring Ashley Judd, Anne Archer and Elisabeth Röhm – which the U.N. Press Release said was “inspired by the harrowing stories of real women and girls profiled in the award-winning book ‘Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery’ by Harvard Professor Siddharth Kara.”
CLICK ON THIS SECTION FOR, INTER ALIA --
(1) The U.N. Press Release on its 2017 movie “Trafficked” starring Ashley Judd, Anne Archer and Elisabeth Röhm.
(2) The UN’s 126-page “Global Report on TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS” (original capitalization) issued in 2016.
(3) The UN’s description (with an Adobe.pdf file of the actual texts available for download) of its 30-page Convention Against Organized Crime (2000) and its 9-page Protocol “To Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (2003) and its 12-page Protocol “Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea (2004).
(4) A 7/31/2017 article in The London Guardian entitled “‘Human Life Is More Expendable’: Why Slavery Has Never Made More Money – new research shows modern slavery is more lucrative than it has ever been, with sex traffickers reaping the greatest rewards” and containing many interesting statistics from the 2016 UN Report and from the work of Prof. Kara.
(5) A 2009 Financial Times book review of “Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery” by Siddharth Kara.
(6) A 2009 book review of “Sex Trafficking” by the Stanford U. Social Innovation Review.
(7) The disgusting trashing of “Sex Trafficking” AND, BY IMPLICATION, THE DISGUSTING TRASHING OF THE UNITED NATIONS (!!!) by Foreign Policy in Focus (“One of the Top-5 Liberal Washington Think (sic) Tanks”) on the grounds that it is senseless to counter “the world’s oldest profession”!!!
. - 10 Topics
- 10 Posts
-
Last post
Text - Victims of Trafficking…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Seco…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Suggested Discussion Outline – Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson – July 31
.
Our July 31 meeting is at the Salt Lake Public Library (210 East 400 South) in Conference Room A which is on the lower level --
(1) At the foot of the grand staircase leading down from the Atrium; and/or
(2) Accessible by the elevator just inside the EAST entrance (NB: the regular elevators lead to a portion of the lower level that DOES NOT CONNECT WITH the portion of the lower level containing Conference Rooms A - C.
Please join us for socializing from 6:15 pm > 7:00 pm or, if you prefer, come only from 7:00 pm > 8:55 pm for our formal discussion.
We provide coffee/decaf and chocolate-chunk cookies and peanut-butter cookies.
Or bring your own snack(s) from the branch of the Salt Lake Roasting Co. on the first floor of the library, from Dunkin’ Donuts directly across 400 South from the library’s main entrance, or from home.
[Everyone is welcome to join us afterwards half a block south at Cannella's for drinks to socialize and/or continue the discussion -- everyone is welcome but Dutch treat.]
[Posted 7/29/2019.] - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal - Brown Gir…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - Brown Girl Drea…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Whether I Am A Newbie
by Tony Violaris View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials -- "The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics” -- June 13
.
Ordinarily this section includes book reviews from The Washington Post and The New York Times (and, if the topic is international, from one or more leading British newspapers; and, if the topic is financial, from one or more leading financial publications).
In its typically-imperious modus vivendi that nothing happened unless they report it, The New York Times has not published a book review of “The Great Revolt” as of the time of this writing (May 27).
Ditto the Washington Post, except that they did publish an OpEd Article by Hugh Hewitt who serves as their conservative columnist.
Accordingly, there is also posted in this section a real book review of “The Great Revolt” by The Atlantic which usually proves to be “even handed” (by Emma Green, The Assistant Managing Editor of TheAtlantic.com, where she also writes about religion and culture).
[Which is NOT to say that Hugh Hewitt’s OpEd article isn’t “even handed.”]
NB: Hugh Hewitt’s OpEd article mentions a 15,000-word article by Dan Balz on the same subject as “The Great Revolt” which is available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/dan-balz/ and scrolling down to the May 10 menu option of “Loyalty, uneasy in Trump’s Midwest.” - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review on "The Great Rev…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
The Quartet – Three E-mail Campaigns “Approved” – May 16
.
The Suggested Discussion Outline for our meeting last evening (May 16) had contained at the very end three Six-Degrees-Of-Separation E-mail Campaigns relating to the “6 most important constitutional issues facing America at the moment” as listed on the face of the “Participant Comments” section of this bulletin board for our May 16 meeting --
Re No. 4 (Campaign Finance), to revive McCain-Feingold public financing of political campaigns with such robust funding that “political contributions” are relegated to the scrap heap of history while extending such financing to Senatorial and Congressional Campaigns.
Re No. 5 (The U.S. Senate’s 60-vote “filibuster” rule), to eliminate it.
Re No. 6 (Authoritarian Rule By Our Intelligence Services), to insist that the illegal interference by our intelligence services in the 2016 Presidential Campaign and its aftermath be prosecuted, for the sake of sound public policy, to the fullest extent of the law.
*****
All three proposals were “approved” unanimously.
The reason for the quotation marks is that we did not achieve our minimum quorum of 6.
We had 8 RSVP’s, and there are usually 1 or 2 members who appear without having RSVP’d.
However, no extras appeared.
And earlier in the week, 2 RSVP’s were hospitalized on an emergency basis and a third RSVP took a bad fall and was bedridden on doctor’s orders.
HOWEVER, all of our Six-Degrees-Of-Separation E-mail Campaigns over our 12.5-year history are collected in the first section of this bulletin board in addition to each appearing below in chronological order with the materials for the meeting in which each was approved.
AND, the comments on the face of the first section of this bulletin board say with respect to our E-mail Campaigns --
“All 27 e-mail campaigns over the years are collected in this section. They include 6 e-mails sent by John Karls that did not receive an official endorsement for the rest of our members to send. The titles of the 21 official recommendations are ALL CAPS and the titles of 6 unofficial recommendations are lower case.”
The requirement for “official” status is either unanimity or, at most, one dissent at a meeting which had at least the minimum quorum of 6 participants.
There were 6 occasions on which Yours Truly felt strongly about an E-mail proposal for which there were two dissents, usually from among more than a dozen participants.
Those “unofficial” campaigns (whose titles are lower case in the first section of this bulletin board) explain that since the U.S. Constitution still contains the Right to Free Speech, Yours Truly had the right to inform his friends of his strong views (virtually all of the 150 recipients of our weekly e-mails are close friends of Yours Truly around the world accumulated over many years).
Bottom line???
Yours Truly had felt so strongly about each of the 3 currently-proposed e-mail campaigns that he would have made them on an unofficial basis if there had been two dissents.
Since, as mentioned above, 3 separate disasters prevented a quorum last evening, the 3 campaigns will move forward on an unofficial basis.
However, even though we fell short of a minimum quorum, the participants were unanimous in supporting each of the 3 campaigns and in recommending that each of them proceed.
Each will be posted here as soon as each is drafted and sent out to our members.
BTW, there was one change. Vis-à-vis the e-mail campaign to revive McCain-Feingold, last evening’s participants decided that it should be directed to Meghan McCain instead of Senator McCain. Because the key to success would be marshaling public opinion. And as a Co-Host of ABC’s “The View,” she is admirably positioned to keep the issue in the public eye until public opinion is marshaled. Which could be aided considerably by her Co-Hosts, each of whom is presumably patriotic.
Respectfully submitted 5/17/2017,
John K. - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Authoritarian Rule By Our Int…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
First Notice Including Reques…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – "The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789" by Prof. Joseph J. Ellis – May 16
.
Click here for, inter alia, the texts of U.S. Supreme Court opinions referenced in the Short Quizzes posted in the “Participant Comments” section. - 8 Topics
- 8 Posts
-
Last post
Exec Orders – Texas v. US – T…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Participant Comments – "The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789" by Prof. Joseph J. Ellis – May 16
.
Click here for, inter alia, our traditional Short Quizzes followed by Suggested Answers.
This month, there is enough time for 3 quizzes.
Traditionally, the quizzes provide “thought piece” suggestions regarding what to look for in a focus book, or what to be aware of in reading it.
So I have tried to judge the 6 most important constitutional issues facing America at the moment, so that we can judge how well “The Quartet” did in creating the American Constitution. My list (which is NOT NECESSARILY in my order of importance, but rather in order of how quickly it would be able to concoct Quizzes and Reference Materials which address them appropriately) --
(1) School desegregation and charter schools.
(2) Abortion.
(3) Gun/knife control (NB: Britain is now banning knives but what about motor vehicles?).
(4) Campaign finance.
(5) Ruling by Executive Order and the Senate’s Filibuster Rule Which, Until The Last Decade Or So, Was Used SOLELY To Perpetuate Segregation.
(6) FISA and Authoritarian Rule by Our Intelligence Services.
I will try to address two of these topics in each of the 3 Short Quizzes.
Anyone who believes there should be an addition to this list is invited to post her/his views post haste.
BTW, consideration of these issues, primarily in terms of U.S. Supreme Court opinions, should afford ample opportunity to consider other dimensions of our consideration of “The Quartet” such as “original intent” vs. “legislating from the bench.”
Respectfully submitted 4/12/2018,
John Karls - 7 Topics
- 9 Posts
-
Last post
Iowa Passes Law Diametrically…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Cancellation of Official Status of April 11 Meeting on Joseph Califano’s “Our Damaged Democracy: We The People Must Act” + John Karls’ Research on Harvard as “Cambridge University in New England” 1636-1816
.
Click here for the 3/24/2018 notice that the April 11 meeting will not be official because we did not achieve our minimum quorum of 6 RSVP’s.
Also click here for two postings on John Karls’ research during the time that was freed up regarding how Harvard College was a component of Cambridge University and known as “Cambridge University in New England” before Harvard morphed into a university in its own right with the formation of Harvard Divinity School in 1816 and Harvard Law School in 1817. - 3 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
John’s Report On Harvard As O…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
HOLDING CHINA RESPONSIBLE FOR…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Suggested Discussion Outline - “American Tianxia: Chinese Money, American Power and the End of History” by Prof. Salvatore Babones - March 14
.
In addition to The Suggested Discussion Outline, this section also contains a Proposed Six-Degrees-Of-Separation E-mail Campaign about Applying Our Long-Standing and Effective Mutual-Assured-Destruction Doctrine to China Re North Korea.
The reasons for the Proposed E-Mail Campaign are contained in a posting entitled “An Attack From North Korea Is An Attack From China” located in the “Participant Comments” section of this bulletin board for our March 14 meeting.
That posting references quite a bit of information from The Suggested Answers To The Second Short Quiz entitled “The New National Defense Strategy” which is also posted in the “Participant Comments” section for our March 14 meeting. - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Applying Our Long-Standing MA…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 6 Topics
- 7 Posts
-
Last post
Whether The Holy Roman Empire…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials - “American Tianxia: Chinese Money, American Power and the End of History” by Prof. Salvatore Babones - March 14
.
Ordinarily, we include in this section of the bulletin-board book reviews from The New York Times, The Washington Post (and the Wall Street Journal if our focus book is economically oriented, and from one or two British newspapers if it is internationally oriented).
American Tianxia by Prof. Babones was NOT reviewed by any of these publications, nor in precious few other publications as implied by the paucity of review comments in the “Original Proposal” section of this bulletin board.
However, there are posted in this section one book review and, in chronological order, three articles on the topic by Prof. Babones himself --
(1) Book Review for Aspen Review by a Polish author of “The Bear Overshadowed by Dragon: Russia-China 1991-2014” (soon to be published in English), three books on Burma/Myanmar, and Russia and China: A Political Marriage of Convenience – Stable and Successful (Budrich 2017).
(2) A 6/22/2017 article in Foreign Affairs Magazine by Prof. Babones – “American Tianxia: When Chinese Philosophy Meets American Power” – NB: This was three months before publication of our focus book.
(3) A 12/31/2017 article in Forbes by Prof Babones – “Has China Hit Its Peak? How Demography, Economics & Geography Will Limit China's Growing Power In 2018.”
(4) A 1/25/2018 article in The Washington Post by Prof. Babones – “America has little to fear from a China-centered world.”
**********
First Dept of Defense “National Defense Strategy” In More Than A Decade (released 1/19/2018)
The foregoing materials and our focus book should comprise interesting reference materials to read in connection with the first Defense Dept “National Defense Strategy” to be released in more than a decade.
It posits that China and Russia “are the main U.S. adversaries” with North Korea, Iran and terrorism taking a back seat.
Accordingly, there is also posted in this section --
(5) The Dept of Defense 1/19/2018 press release about the National Defense Strategy, following which is available for download an Adobe.pdf file containing the 11-page unclassified Official Summary of the National Defense Strategy. - 5 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review of "American Tian…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 2 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Nobel Laureate Milton Friedma…
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
We Have Our Quorum
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 7 Topics
- 8 Posts
-
Last post
Co-Author Shaefer Forms U/Mic…
by AaronStander View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials - “$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America” - Feb 7
.
Usually we post in this section, inter alia, book reviews (if available) from The New York Times and The Washington Post.
This time it is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED that you read all three of the following items posted in this section -- in the following order --
(1) An interview of our author, Prof. Kathryn Edin, by the Christianity Today Magazine -- “evangelism’s flagship magazine” founded by the Rev. Billy Graham.
(2) A NY Times Book Review of “$2.00 a Day” by Prof. William Julius Wilson – Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor of Sociology at Harvard University since 1996; he also taught at the University of Chicago 1972-1996.
(3) A NY Review of Books Book Review of “$2.00 a Day” by Prof. Christopher Jencks – The Malcolm Weiner Professor of Social Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government; prior to his university career, he was an Editor at The New Republic (1961-67) and a fellow of The Institute for Policy Studies in Washington DC (1963-67); he is currently an Editor of The American Prospect.
[The Washington Post book review is not posted because it was an uninspired article by a Washington Post “enterprise reporter” -- whatever that is.] - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Author Interview by Christian…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Meeting Cancellation - The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue Collar Conservatism - Jan 10
.
Our weekly e-mail last Saturday (Dec 16) had said that IAW our normal policy, our Jan 10 meeting would be cancelled if we did not receive our minimum quorum of six RSVP’s by last midnight.
Accordingly, our Jan 10 meeting is cancelled.
Since the U.S. Constitution still contains the Right to Assembly and the Right to Free Speech, the RSVP’s for a cancelled meeting often decide to have an unofficial meeting to discuss the focus book.
However, unofficial means no more promotion (Short Quizzes, Suggested Discussion Outlines, etc.) and that the unofficial meeting cannot take any official action such as voting for the focus book for the following month or voting to launch one of our Six-Degrees-Of-Separation E-mails.
The focus book for the following month, in such circumstances, is the Proposed Focus Book posted in the second section of http://www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org that has received the greatest number of “views.”
Accordingly, the focus book for Wed Feb 7 (both Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday fall on Feb 14) is Ted Gurney’s proposal of “$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America” by Kathryn J. Edin and H. Luke Shaefer [Originally published by Houghton Mifflin September 2015 – Paperback edition by Mariner Books – 240 pages.]
Amazon.com -- $8.40 paperback + shipping or $9.99 Kindle.
Other bookstores listed on Amazon -- from $4.69 used + shipping.
Salt Lake Public Library – 3 of 3 copies currently available.
Salt Lake County Library – 2 of 2 copies currently available.
[Posted Dec 23.] - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Meeting Cancellation Info
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Original Proposal - The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue Collar Conservatism - Jan 10
.
The Original Proposal was to focus on two things --
(1) “The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue Collar Conservatism” by Henry Olsen; AND
(2) Anything said or published by Representatives Deborah Dingell (D-MI) and Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) about their recent trip across the heartland of America to speak with, and listen to the needs of, working-class Americans -- in preparation for an attempt to re-focus the Democratic Party on blue-collar workers (vs. on identity politics)
Accordingly, this section includes not only the Original Proposal but also a NY Times article on the recent trip by Representatives Deborah Dingell (D-MI) and Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) about their recent trip across the heartland of America in which Representatives Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Donald Norcross (D-NJ) also participated.
BTW, the NY Times article reports that they plan to release a report entitled “The Future of Work, Wages and Labor” in the coming months. - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
NY Times article about Trip o…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Reference Materials - The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue Collar Conservatism - Jan 10
.
Click here for the Washington Post book review of “The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue Collar Conservatism” which begins by recalling --
“Sen. Barack Obama, campaigning in Nevada in early 2008, expressed his presidential ambitions in an eyebrow-raising way: by professing admiration for Ronald Reagan. ‘Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and a way that Bill Clinton did not,’ Obama said. ‘He put us on a fundamentally different path.’ It gave Democrats the heebie-jeebies to think that their nominee (sic – he was only the POTENTIAL nominee in Jan 2008) might see the greatest conservative politician of the 20th century as his model.”
Also included in this section are --
A book review from The Atlantic by its Senior Editor, David Frum, AND
An article by our author, David Olsen, in Politico providing a succinct summary of his views in The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue Collar Conservatism. - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - The Washington …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
FISA Extended in Continuing R…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Original Proposal - Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now by Ayaan Hirsi Ali - Dec 13
.
************
Note Re Dec 13 Date
Ironically, our policy is to meet the second Wednesday of each month with adjustments for secular and religious holidays. Since Wed Dec 13th is the first full day of Hanukkah (aka Chanukah), our 11/11/2017 weekly e-mail asked for RSVP’s for Wed Dec 6th. However, none of our Jewish colleagues RSVP’d and we did not achieve our minimum quorum of six for Wed Dec 6th. But several responders said the Dec 6th date was a problem for them but they were reading “Heretic” anyway. The irony??? Our regular Wed Dec 13th date was fine with everyone. So Wed Dec 13th it is. [Posted Nov 18]
************
Note Re Venue Change
Usually we meet in the Salt Lake Library (210 East 400 South).
However, as explained above our Library reservation was for Dec 6th. So we needed a meeting place for Dec 13. The Salt Lake Library is usually crammed to the gills every December -- indeed, Thomas and Denise Chancellor were kind to host our December meeting 4 years ago and the venue for our meeting two years ago at the Red Lion was billed as "There Is Room At The Inn!!!"
So the Dec 13 meeting will be held at the Sandy UT home of Yours Truly because all of the 9 RSVP’s for Dec 13 either Skype from NYC or are skiers who live near the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon, except for two who graciously agreed to drive the 20 miles each way to/from Sandy UT.
HOWEVER, anyone who would like to attend but would be inconvenienced, is invited to Skype with us.
And anyone else who has not yet RSVP’d but would like to attend in person, will be provided driving instructions in response to her/his RSVP.
[Posted Nov 22] - 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
A Different Kind Of Daughter …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 5 Topics
- 7 Posts
-
Last post
Marked USA Liberty Act Change…
by Pat View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials - Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now by Ayaan Hirsi Ali - Dec 13
.
Osama’s Fatwa to Nuke 10 Million Americans, Sec. 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and The USA Liberty Act --
In focusing on Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s “Heretic” which calls for a “reformation” of Radical Islam, we should also recall why Radical Islam is so dangerous and how, as we studied for our 5/10/2017 meeting on “Authoritarian Rule by Our Intelligence Services,” George Orwell’s “1984” may be just around the corner as a result of the power they have to gather information on Americans under FISA Sec. 702.
In this regard, it should be noted that FSIA Sec. 702 expires on 12/31/2017 unless it is renewed.
The USA Liberty Act was proposed this fall by Chairman Robert Goodlatte of the House Judiciary Committee and reported to the floor on 11/8/2017 by the Committee.
The salient change to FISA Sec. 702 is that although the intelligence services are still permitted to gather meta-data -- “when attempting to access CONTENT after querying for a crime, the government must first obtain a probable-cause based order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), subject to some exceptions….” (quoting from Chairman Goodlatte’s description of the Act on his website).
HOWEVER, when questioned by Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) during House Judiciary Committee hearings this morning (Nov. 14), Attorney General Sessions testified that the U.S. Justice Department OPPOSES such tightening of FISA Sec. 702.
A quick but extremely brief review of what we have learned in past studies --
(1) Osama’s fatwa to nuke 10 million Americans was the focus of a famous book by the Founding Dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government Graham Allison entitled “Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe.”
(2) Graham Allison recommendations have NOT been followed despite the endorsement and exhaustive supportive efforts of former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn (D-GA and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman 1987-1995), U.S. Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman 2003-2007) and Messrs. Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton (Chair and Co-Chair of The 9/11 Commission).
(3) And despite the efforts of Tim Russert to publicize the efforts of Nunn/Lugar/Kean/Hamilton on Meet The Press and Tom Brokaw’s participation in a Docu-Drama produced by Nunn/Lugar/Kean/Hamilton.
(4) Fatwas can NOT be revoked following the death of the person who issued the fatwa – as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei informed the Brits when they sought to have revoked Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s fatwa to assassinate Salman Rushdie during negotiations to restore diplomatic relations following the death of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989.
(5) Fatwa’s are the solemn religious duty of every follower of the person who issued the fatwa – which in the case of Osama’s fatwa to nuke 10 million Americans includes every member of Al Qaeda and every member of ISIS (formerly Al Qaeda in Iraq).
(6) It would appear that even though Dean Graham Allison’s recommendations have not been implemented, the reason why America has not long since suffered a nuclear attack from Al Qaeda and/or ISIS (as most experts were predicting was imminent following 9/11 and, for movie buffs, was the topic of several Hollywood movies) is because of FISA Sec. 702’s extraordinary grant of power to our intelligence services to spy on terrorists, including their communications with American citizens. - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Text of USA Liberty Act (H.R.…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Further Reflections On Our Au…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 5 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
Chris Matthews & Chuck Todd “…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - The Washington …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Shor…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
9/13/2017 New Yorker article …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Original Proposal - The War On Cops: How the New Attack on Law & Order Makes Everyone Less Safe by Heather MacDonald - Sep 6
.
The September 2017 Bulletin for the Harvard Club of NYC, released today (Aug 24), listed among the zillions of scheduled events a presentation on Thurs Evening Oct 5 by Heather MacDonald on “War on Cops” which is our focus book for 9/6/2017.
If any of the two dozen or so subscribers to our weekly newsletter who are based in NYC is able to attend this event, please do so and let us know what happened. [If you are not a member of the club, I can register you for this event.] - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Participant Comments - The War On Cops: How the New Attack on Law & Order Makes Everyone Less Safe by Heather MacDonald - Sep 6
.
Click here for, inter alia --
The First Short Quiz entitled "The 1992 Acquisition of the Democratic Party as a Wholly-Owned Subsidiary of The Establishment" and
The Second Short Quiz entitled “Identity Politics: A ‘Token’ Black President Who ‘Knew His Place’ on the Establishment’s ‘Plantation.’”
[NB: We have always defined “The Establishment” as the billionaires who, since 1992, have “owned” virtually all the pols of both political parties as a result of campaign contributions, who “own” many (if not most) of the members of The Mainstream Media, and who “own” many members of academia.] - 5 Topics
- 7 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Seco…
by Pat View the latest post
-
-
-
Reference Materials - The War On Cops: How the New Attack on Law & Order Makes Everyone Less Safe by Heather MacDonald - Sep 6
.
Click here for the 86-page 3/4/2015 "Department of Justice Report Regarding The Criminal Investigation Into The Shooting Death of Michael Brown by Ferguson, Missouri Police Officer Darren Wilson." - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
How to think about race and p…
by UtahOwl View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Meeting Cancellation Info
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review for Bloomberg by …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
CALL TO ACTION – "SIX-DEGREES-OF-SEPARATION" E-MAIL CAMPAIGN RE SAVING THE U.S. GOV $300 BILLION/YEAR BY ENACTING “MEDICARE FOR ALL” – (only 5 minutes needed to participate)
.
TO U.S. SENATOR JOHN McCAIN REQUESTING HIM TO SPEARHEAD A BI-PARTISAN LEGISLATIVE EFFORT BASED ON RECOGNITION THAT TRUE CONSERVATISM REQUIRES THE ENACTMENT OF SINGLE-PAYER HEALTHCARE (i.e., MEDICARE-FOR-ALL) IN ORDER TO SAVE THE U.S. GOVERNMENT $300 BILLION/YEAR - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Three Q&A’s About the Statist…
by Norm Guice View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Suggested Discussion Outline - An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back by Elisabeth Rosenthal – For July 12
.
TRUE CONSERVATISM REQUIRES THE ENACTMENT OF
SINGLE-PAYER HEALTHCARE (e.g., MEDICARE FOR ALL)!!!
Our focus-book confirmed what we already knew --
A. The percentage of American Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”) spent on healthcare “is more than twice the average of developed countries”!!!
B. The U.N.’s World Health Organization ranks “the health system performance” of the U.S. as only 37th in the world -- which means that since there are only 35 members of the OECD, American healthcare is outranked BY AT LEAST TWO THIRD-WORLD COUNTRIES!!!”
*****
None of the ideas being discussed currently in Congress would significantly impact this sad state of affairs.
Which is no surprise because YOU CAN BE CERTAIN that the $500 million/year spent by lobbyists for the healthcare industry (which is about FOUR TIMES the amount spent on lobbying by the next-most-active industry -- oil & gas) is aimed at perpetuating and expanding the outrageous practices described in our focus book.
And trying to fight those practices WITHOUT a SINGLE PAYER healthcare system (e.g., Medicare for All) will CONTINUE to be the equivalent of fighting a raging forest fire with a squirt gun.
After all, why should the enactment of any new laws be expected to have any effect in the light of all of the existing anti-trust laws and patent-law requirements that have been ignored for decades???
*****
WHY TRUE CONSERVATISM REQUIRES ENACTMENT OF “MEDICARE FOR ALL”
[For more detail than follows below, please read the Suggested Discussion Outline posted in this section, followed by “Saving the US Gov $300 BILLION/year with ‘Medicare For All’” which is also posted in this section.]
But in short --
What all 34 of the world’s other industrialized countries (which have better healthcare at half the cost) have in common is a SINGLE PAYER healthcare system that does NOT tolerate the waste/illegalities described in our focus book.
So that if those costs can be cut in half to bring them in line with the rest of the civilized world, quality U.S. healthcare could be provided 100%-free at NO ADDITIONAL GOVERNMENTAL COST.
(1) The Suggested Discussion Outline recorded that the 2015 U.S. Census documented that 55.7% of the American population has employment-based insurance. Since the cost of such insurance is deductible to the employer and non-taxable to the employee, then a good estimate of the cost of this insurance to the U.S. government would be the 35% corporate income tax rate * 55.7% of the population = 19.50% of the economy’s total current healthcare costs.
(2) The Suggested Discussion Outline recorded that the 2015 U.S. Census also documented the following percentages of the American population receive healthcare from --
19.6% - Medicaid
16.3% - Medicare
4.7% - Military including the V.A.
*****
40.6% – Sub-Total
19.5% - Percentage of economy’s total healthcare costs financed by reduced employer taxes
*****
60.1% - Total of economy’s total healthcare costs currently financed by the U.S. government
*****
Accordingly, it is respectfully suggested that a SINGLE PAYER healthcare system (e.g. Medicare for All) should cut American healthcare costs in half -- bringing them in line with the rest of the civilized world!!!
And since the U.S. Government already pays 60.1% of all U.S. healthcare costs, a SINGLE PAYER healthcare system should produce a 10.1% overall savings (60.1% - 50%).
And since our author trumpeted in almost every chapter that American healthcare costs exceed $3 TRILLION, a 10.1% overall savings should produce a U.S. Governmental spending REDUCTION of $303 BILLION/year.
SO IF TRUE CONSERVATISM MEANS REDUCING THE SIZE AND COST OF GOVERNMENT, WHY ISN’T IT OBVIOUS TO OUR POLS THAT TRUE CONSERVATISM REQUIRES THE ENACTMENT OF “MEDICARE FOR ALL”??? - 3 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Saving the US Gov $300 BILLIO…
by Pat View the latest post
-
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - An American Sic…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Seco…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 5 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
The Srebrenica Prosecutors Ha…
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - How Everything …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Re: Meeting Report
by GeorgeKunath View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
“Wiretapped Data Used In Inqu…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Participant Comments – Authoritarian Rule by Our Intelligence Services – May 10
.
SUGGESTED BINGE WATCHING – FICTIONAL DRAMA ON THE EAST GERMAN STASI
One of Yours Truly’s character flaws is that he adores Whodunnits, especially the zillions of different TV series produced by MHz Choice set in various European cities and featuring English subtitles so that you can brush up on your foreign languages.
Second confession???
Binge watching for the first time ever!!!
The Weissensee Saga is a “Romeo and Juliet” series featuring two East German families 1980-1990, one of which is high-echelon Stasi (the East German counterpart to the Soviet Union’s KGB).
Though you wouldn’t believe the machinations and corruption as the 3 Stasi (father and 2 sons) both threaten, and cover up for, each other and the rest of their extended family, while they also both threaten, and cover up for, the two-member dissident family.
[Stasi, Sr., is the long-time lover of the dissident mother and Black-Sheep Stasi Son becomes the lover of dissident daughter without knowing about the senior relationship.]
Yours truly prides himself in being cynical (which he calls “realism”), but even he was shocked!!! Even though all of the shocking events are entirely believable!!! Especially the reactions of every ordinary citizen when suddenly confronted with evidence gathered while s/he was unexpectedly surveilled, usually vis-à-vis contact with an investigation target!!! Because, of course, s/he knows that s/he is about to be blackmailed with a long-term prison sentence unless s/he becomes a Stasi informer!!! Whether or not s/he knew anything about the objectionable activities of the target!!!
Direct TV is currently (4/28/2017) half-way through the existing 18 episodes (a fourth season is scheduled to begin soon).
But you can start at the beginning and binge-watch all 18 episodes for free!!!
In other words, do NOT order from Amazon.com the DVD’s for each of the first 3 seasons for $22 each.
INSTEAD, sign up for a 7-day free trial for MHz Choice on Amazon.com AND you can binge-watch all 18 episodes AND THEN CANCEL BEFORE the $7.99/month charge kicks in.
JSK - 4/28/2017 - 8 Topics
- 8 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Four…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Reference Materials – Authoritarian Rule by Our Intelligence Services – May 10
.
Ordinarily we post in this “Reference Materials” section, inter alia, book reviews of the focus book.
However, since Orwell’s 1984 was published in 1949, it is unlikely that any book reviews of that period would have anticipated what an epic 1984 became.
And virtually all of us read 1984 for the first time in high school and remember well many of its features including “Big Brother” and “Big Brother is watching you”!!!
Accordingly, there is posted instead the current Wikipedia article on 1984 (our apologies to everyone who recalls our mantra that “Wikipedia articles are only as good as their footnotes,” but they are often a good place to start and provide a good summary).
In addition, there is posted the current Wikipedia article on Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” which was published 17 years earlier in 1932.
Many, if not most, of us studied both together and, indeed, the first paragraph of the section of the Wikipedia article on 1984 that compares it to Brave New World, says --
“In the decades since the publication of 1984, there have been numerous comparisons to the Aldous Huxley novel, Brave New World which was published 17 years earlier in 1932. They are both predictions of societies dominated by a central government, based on extensions of the trends of their times. But the ruling class of 1984 use brutal force, torture, and mind control to keep rebellious individuals in line, while Brave New World rulers keep citizens in line through addictive drugs and pleasurable distractions.”
Also highly recommended are three articles from the Guardian that were proposed 9/12/2016 as a meeting topic by Utah Owl (aka June Taylor) entitled “The CIA - A Constitutional Crisis?” which said simply --
“I propose that we read The Guardian's series ‘The Insider’ about Daniel Jones, a staffer on the Senate's intelligence oversight committee, who managed to obtain a copy of the highly secret ‘Panetta Report’ on the CIA's torture and other activities in the early days of the Iraq war. It is in three parts, all online at this point. Have a look and decide whether this is worth our attention!” Whereupon the proposal contained cross-links to the three articles in The Guardian.
June’s 9/12/2016 topic proposal expired 2/8/2017 because it received no votes for 6 consecutive meetings.
However, the three articles, together with June’s Original Proposal, are posted in this section.
And although the three articles are lengthy, reading them is highly recommended because (1) they show how our intelligence officials often lie under oath concerning their activities, and (2) because they almost-routinely “leak” classified information betraying “sources and methods” which is a felony punishable by 10 years in prison.
The “intelligence official” guilty of “leaking” in the imbroglio described in the three Guardian articles was Senate Foreign Intelligence Committee Chair Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) who was at war with President Obama and who admitted on 3/11/2014 that her staff had stolen 2 months earlier CIA documents that were then “leaked.”
The reason why the Guardian articles are only “highly recommended” is to illustrate that there are many reasons why an “intelligence official” such as Sen. Feinstein might violate the law.
However, our May 10th meeting will focus on only one reason -- the elimination from our democratic government of any official that the intelligence services dislike and the resulting Authoritarian Rule by Our Intelligence Services which must be stopped in its tracks. - 3 Topics
- 7 Posts
-
Last post
1984 – Wikipedia article (con…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
April 12 Meeting Cancellation
.
The question has arisen whether my obvious hostility for Thomas Friedman (please see the Participant Comments section below) contributed to our failure to achieve a minimum quorum of six positive RSVP’s.
I believe that the record will show that the answer is negative.
Yes, most of our members are aware of the lawsuits that I brought against 15 of the world’s largest financial institutions 2009-20011 for the $84 billion which they owed me and which, every penny, had been pledged in legally-binding fashion to benefit the education of 10 million inner-city children.
[Those lawsuits are documented by hundreds, if not thousands, of documents that are contained in the third and fourth sections of this website entitled “Inner-City Holocaust and America’s ‘Apartheid’ Justice System (In Honor of Jonathan Kozol and In Memory of John Howard Griffin)”.]
And yes, most of our members are aware that I wrote many letters while those lawsuits were pending to 43 news-media superstars imploring them to “shine a light” on what was transpiring.
[An example of one of those letters is available for download from the fourth posting (entitled “18 May 2011 Letter to 43 News-Media Superstars”) posted in the third section of this website. BTW that letter contains as a second page a “blind file note” listing the 43 News-Media Superstars and their then-current addresses.]
And yes, most of our members are aware that if any one of those 43 news-media superstars had “lifted a single finger” by writing a single news story or a single OpEd column, 10 million inner-city children might have been spared “a fate worse than death.”
HOWEVER, I would be flabbergasted if any of our members had stopped to think during the last week since the announcement of his book, that Thomas Friedman was probably one of those 43 news-media superstars.
The e-mail correspondence contained in this section of the bulletin board attempted to obtain our minimum quorum of six WITHOUT any trace of bitterness. Which I believe was accomplished.
AND WITHOUT even a mention that Thomas Friedman was one of those 43 news-media superstars who “condemned to a fate worse than death” those 10 million inner-city children.
AND NO, I will NOT shun reading his book -- because every book by a competent author contains important nuggets of information that were not theretofore known.
BUT YES, I do NOT relish meetings for which we have lost our minimum quorum of six so that we are powerless to take effective action to benefit our nation (and, hopefully, the entire world).
[We have only had to cancel 2-3 meetings in the course of our 11-plus years of existence due to a failure to achieve a minimum quorum of six. And there have only been 2-3 meetings during that period in which a minimum quorum of six was lost because of, for example, illness on a meeting date when we had fewer than our average 10-11 attendees.]
John Karls – 18 March 2017 - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
April 12 Meeting Cancellation
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - Thank You For B…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Participant Comments - Thank You For Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide To Thriving in an Age of Accelerations – For April 12th
.
By the end of the first week of the monthly cycle (which is the deadline for obtaining six positive RSVP’s for the next meeting as our minimum quorum), Yours Truly has prepared The Short Quiz (or Two Short Quizzes if we are facing the once-per-quarter five-week gap between meetings).
And by that time, Yours Truly has also prepared The Suggested Answers (or has a good idea of what they will say).
This section contains, inter alia --
The First Short Quiz (entitled “A Special Place In Hell For” Thomas Friedman)
The Suggested Answers to the First Short Quiz
The Second Short Quiz (entitled “Thomas Friedman, Godfather of the 1%”)
The Suggested Answers to the Second Short Quiz
John Karls - 18 March 2017 2:30 am MDT - 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Seco…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Original Proposal – Killing Millions of Sesame Street Miss Piggy’s For The Human Organs – March 8
.
On 8/5/2016, John Karls proposed a topic entitled ““Clone Rights: Involuntary Soldiers, Sex Slaves, Human ‘Lab Rats’ Etc.” which began -
“I propose that we study today’s NIH Proposal for Human Stem Cell Research.
“This would dovetail nicely with the focus of our 4/9/2008 meeting 8 years ago entitled “Clone Rights: Involuntary Soldiers, Sex Slaves, Human ‘Lab Rats’ Etc.” for which we viewed together -
“The 2005 Hollywood movie “The Island” which starred Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson, and which dealt with the creation of human clones whose organs, whenever needed by their human “sponsors” who had financed their creation, could be harvested for transplant to the “sponsor” while the clones, of course, died;
“and for which our short meeting description was -
“How would you like to be an involuntary soldier, sex slave, human "lab rat" etc. WITH NO CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS JUST BECAUSE (1) the stem cells from which you were created came from skin cells rather than an embryo, or (2) your DNA is only 99% of the way from chimp DNA to human DNA (or any of the chimp-human DNA combinations the Yale U Biology Dept has created and is creating)??? Re (2), how do legal classifications based on % of human DNA differ from legal classifications in the Old South based on % of African-American blood, or legal classifications in Hitler's Third Reich based on % of Jewish blood???
“There follows immediately below a description of the NIH proposal in Nature (the International Weekly Journal of Science), following which is the text of the NIH proposal itself as it appeared today in the Federal Register.”
*****
1/29/2017 UPDATE
On 1/29/2017, John Karls updated the proposal while changing the title to “Is The Fed Gov (NIH) Funding Nazi-Style Death Camps?” for which it is respectfully suggested the correct answer is “not yet, but soon.”
The up-dating comprised 4 postings regarding the Salk Institute announcing the creation of Human-Pig Chimeras for purposes of cloning human organs for transplant to the human whose DNA had been combined with pig DNA.
[“Chimera” is an animal created from DNA of two different species.]
Salk’s Human-Pig Chimeras were aborted before birth.
Under the 8/5/2016 NIH rules, there is NO PROHIBITION against the creation of Chimeras that have cloned human organs, even if doing so requires that the Chimera has a human or near-human brain.
*****
REQUIREMENT OF A NEW TITLE
As can be seen from the beginning of the 1/29/2017 posting entitled “Human-Pig Chimeras - Decent Behavior Despite Open Barn Door” and the conclusion of the 1/29/2017 posting entitled “Is The Fed Gov (NIH) Funding Nazi-Style Death Camps?” - John Karls took the moral stand that he would have nothing to do with our March 8th meeting unless it focused on this topic.
To obtain the last 2 votes for a majority at our 2/8/2017 meeting, John had to agree NOT to use either the original title “Clone Rights...” or the updated title referring to “Nazi-Style Death Camps.”
The 2 holdouts suggested a title based on “chimeras.”
Fortunately, America is familiar with a fictional chimera - Sesame Street’s Miss Piggy who obviously has a human brain and presumably has human organs that are “ripe for the picking”!!!
*****
SUGGESTED MEETING MATERIALS
For anyone who has not seen “The Island” (2005) starring Scarlett Johansson and Ewan McGregor, please do so. (It can be rented from Amazon.com for $3.99.)
And even if you have seen it, it is strongly recommended that you view it again while thinking of Scarlett Johansson as a Miss Piggy chimera.
In addition, you should read all of the 7 items contained in John Karls’ topic proposal. They are reproduced in a special section below entitled “Original Proposal Reference Materials.”
And as usual, you should read everything else that any of us posts in the “Participant Comments” or regular “Reference Materials” sections. - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Whether the NIH Rules Permit …
by Jay Hansen View the latest post
-
-
-
Participant Comments – Killing Millions of Sesame Street Miss Piggy’s For The Human Organs – March 8
.
This section contains, inter alia --
The Suggested Answers to the Short Quiz which are entitled --
“Why William Shirer, the author of “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,” would say that America is morally INFERIOR to Nazi Germany”!!!
. - 6 Topics
- 8 Posts
-
Last post
An interesting discussion fro…
by UtahOwl View the latest post
-
-
-
Original Proposal Reference Materials – Killing Millions of Sesame Street Miss Piggy’s For The Human Organs – March 8
.
This section contains the 7 postings comprising the Original Proposal --
(1) 8/5/2016 -- “Clone Rights -- Involuntary Soldiers, Sex Slaves, Lab Rats, Etc. (including the text of the NIH proposed changes to the 2009 Human Stem-Cell Research Guidelines as published in the 8/6/2016 Federal Register)
(2) 8/5/2016 -- “What If Yale U’s 50% Human DNA Were All Dominant Traits???” (including the Discussion Outline for our 4/9/2008 meeting 8 years ago)
(3) 8/9/2016 -- “Marked Changes To The 2009 Human Stem-Cell Research Guidelines”
(4) 1/29/2017 -- “Human-Pig Chimeras -- Decent Behavior Despite Open Barn Door” (including 1/26/2017 Washington Post article)
(5) 1/31/2017 -- “Is the Fed Gov (NIH) Funding Nazi-Style Death Camps?” (to which it is respectfully suggested that the correct answer is “not yet, but soon”)
(6) 1/31/2017 -- “The Human-Pig Chimera Report From The Salk Institute” (ver batim text)
(7) 2/7/2017 -- “The Article in Britain’s ‘Nature’ About Rat-Mouse Chimeras” (ver batim text)
**********
These 7 postings were viewed 609 times before being transplanted here from the "Possible Topics for Future Meetings" section of this bulletin board. - 7 Topics
- 7 Posts
-
Last post
Clone Rights–Involuntary Sold…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Up-Date Re OurWorkingGroupOpp…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Re: Does Destroying Great Sal…
by UtahOwl View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials - The Mormon Church Condoning The Wanton Destruction Of Great Salt Lake – Feb 8th
.
This section contains book reviews for our focus book, Finders Keepers: A Tale of Archaeological Plunder and Obsession by Craig Childs from --
(1) The Salt Lake Tribune
(2) The Los Angeles Times
(3) The New York Times
However, as explained in the “Original Proposal” section above, we are using Finders Keepers as a guide for examining one aspect of a preliminary assessment of what would be involved in our pending challenge to The Mormon Church over its condoning of the Wanton Destruction of Great Salt Lake.
Additional information concerning that imbroglio is available elsewhere on this website --
The Mormon Church’s President and Twelve Apostles who govern its affairs, were each requested by certified-mail return-receipt on 10/31/2016 to issue a press release stating that (1) the Mormon Church will sponsor a “legislative initiative” pursuant to Utah Constitution Art. VI Sec. 1 and Utah Code Title 20A Chapter 7 to require an immediate cessation to the Bear River Pipeline Project AND the dedication of all Utah State Sales Tax Funds that would have been allocated to the Bear River Pipeline Project to be spent, instead, on purchasing (or taking by eminent domain) farmland to have been served by the Bear River Pipeline based on the value of the farmland if the full costs of the Bear River Pipeline were reflected 100% in water prices –- AND (2) if the Mormon Church’s “legislative initiative” should fail, the Mormon Church will lobby the U.S. Government to create a new National Park comprising the Great Salt Lake and its tributaries.
All of the pertinent facts concerning the Wanton Destruction of Great Salt Lake (including the fact that 82% of all water usage in Utah goes to produce UNECONOMIC crops, the vast majority of which are sold as alfalfa hay to China!!!) are contained in the 10/31/2016 letters that were sent to the Mormon Church’s President and Twelve Apostles. However, background information such as the July 2014 two-volume engineering report and the Sep. 2016 Draft Water-Strategy White Paper prepared for the Utah Governor (in truly “ready – fire – aim” fashion six months AFTER the enactment of Senate Bill 80 approving the pipeline and its financing from Utah sales-tax receipts) can be downloaded from the posting entitled “Destroying Great Salt Lake To Grow Low-Profit Hay For China” in the second section of this website entitled “Possible Topics For Future Meetings.”
The 10/31/2016 letters to each of the Mormon Church’s President and Twelve Apostles can be downloaded from the first posting entitled “Destroying Great Salt Lake To Grow Hay For China” in the first section of this website.
In the 2.5 months since those letters were received by the President and Twelve Apostles who govern the Mormon Church, there has been no announcement that the Mormon Church will oppose the Bear River Pipeline.
Accordingly, it is time to assess, at least preliminarily, whether we will take effective action to have the U.S. Government create a new National Park comprising the Great Salt Lake and its tributaries. - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Finders Keepers Book Review -…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Palliative Care Decision Maki…
by Tucker Gurney View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
We Have Our Quorum
by GeorgeKunath View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Shor…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Being Mortal - Book Review - …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
Meeting Post Mortem Re Perfor…
by UtahOwl View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 5 Topics
- 6 Posts
-
Last post
Did You Forget That Sikorsky …
by Pat View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
RE:When Wall Street Owns Main…
by UtahOwl View the latest post
-
-
Discussion Outline - The Terror Years: From Al-Qaeda to the Islamic State – Nov 16
CHANGE OF VENUE – Please note that we will be meeting on Wed Nov 16 at the home of Ted and Elizabeth (Tucker) Gurney because the library did not have room for us. If you plan to attend and haven’t RSVP’d yet, please do so and you will be informed of the address of the Gurneys’ home. - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Shor…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - The Terror Year…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
RL Attendee Helen Santiz and …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
The E-Mail Referenced In Q&A-3
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
We Have Our Quorum
by UtahOwl View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – Helping Children Succeed: What Works and Why - Oct 19
.
Click here for 4 book reviews of Helping Children Succeed.
Particularly recommended are –-
(1) Prof. Diane Ravitch’s Blog --
We studied Prof. Ravitch’s “Reign of Error: The Hoax of the School Privatization Movement” for our 6/17/2015 meeting, and Prof. Ravitch’s “The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education” for our 9/12/2012 meeting.
Diane Ravitch is N.Y.U.’s Research Professor of Education and a historian of education. In addition, she is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education.
(2) The Psychology Today Magazine Review --
The author of the article is Claudia M. Gold, MD --
Harvard Medical School Professor associated with The Brazelton Institute of Boston’s Children’s Hospital.
Director of Early Childhood Social-Emotional Health Program at Newton-Wellesley Hospital.
An advanced scholar with the Berkshire Psychoanalytic Institute.
The author of, inter alia, Keeping Your Child in Mind: Overcoming Defiance, Tantrums and Other Everyday Behavior Problems by Seeing the World Through Your Child's Eyes (2011), The Silenced Child: From Labels, Medications, and Quick-Fix Solutions to Listening, Growth, and Lifelong Resilience (2016), and The Development Science of Early Childhood: Clinical Applications of Infant Mental Health Concepts from Infancy Through Adolescence (scheduled for release in time for Valentine’s Day 2/14/2017), she writes regularly for her blog, Child in Mind, on the Boston.com website. - 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - Prof. Diane Rav…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 6 Topics
- 8 Posts
-
Last post
Inner-City Holocaust & Americ…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of Family and Culture in Crisis - Sep 14
.
This section contains book reviews from the New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.
It also contains an article from the September issue of The Atlantic Magazine which deals with two books -- “White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America” by Nancy Isenberg as well as “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of Family and Culture in Crisis” by J.D. Vance.
Fortuitously, both “White Trash” and “Hillbilly Elegy” were proposed simultaneously as Reading Liberally topics by John Karls on 8/5/2016, with “Hillbilly Elegy” being voted at our Aug meeting as the focus for our Sep meeting.
However, both books bear on the same imbroglio and The Atlantic article offers a thoughtful analysis of both. - 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
New York Times Book Review - …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Original Proposal – San Bernardino and The F.B.I. vs. Apple – Aug 10
.
Because we are a U.S. public-policy focused group, there are always crucial public-policy issues addressed in our focus book.
That is true this month = (1) The U.S. Government’s need for information to protect American citizens from Radical Islamic Terrorism, (2) the danger that future unprincipled politicians could use the government’s information to become George Orwell’s Big Brother and impose a totalitarian dictatorship a la Orwell’s epic novel “1984,” (3) foreign governments and foreign enterprises stealing America’s corporate know-how and America’s intelligence secrets, and (4) the identity theft and mis-identification of individual citizens.
Unfortunately, the title of our focus book (“A Quest for Privacy, Security, and Freedom in a World of Relentless Surveillance”) implies a negative answer to every need for information.
Accordingly, John Karls has made one of his typical executive decisions to employ a title for our meeting which emphasizes in a neutral fashion the most important issue.
NB: San Bernardino and The F.B.I. vs. Apple occurred after publication of our focus book. A NY Times article summarizing succinctly the issues involved in that imbroglio follows immediately after The Short Quiz contained in the Participants Comments which is the next section of this Bulletin Board. - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by Attila Relenyi View the latest post
-
-
-
Participant Comments – San Bernardino and The F.B.I. vs. Apple – Aug 10
.
This section contains a succinct summary of San Bernardino and The F.B.I. vs. Apple immediately following The Short Quiz. - 2 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers To The Shor…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Reference Materials – San Bernardino and The F.B.I. vs. Apple – Aug 10
.
Our current focus book overlaps considerably with two previous foci for which there is a plethora of information available by scrolling below to their “Participant Comments” Sections --
(1) Our 6/12/2013 meeting focusing on “The New Digital Age” by Eric Schmidt [Executive Chairman of Google and Google’s CEO 2001-2011] and Jared Cohen [The Director of Google Ideas (a global initiatives think tank in NYC to apply technological solutions to problems faced by the developing world), an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the Advisory Board of the Director of the U.S. Government’s Counterterrorism Center].
(2) Our 9/9/2015 meeting focusing on “The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies” by Prof. Erik Brynjolfsson [Director of the MIT Center for Digital Business and one of the most cited scholars in information systems and economics] and Andrew McAfee [a Principal Research Scientist at the MIT Center for Digital Business and the author of Enterprise 2.0].
Click on this section for book reviews of our current focus book and an interview of its author by Bill Moyers. - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
London Financial Times Book R…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Cancellation – How The Other Half Banks: Exclusion, Exploitation, and The Threat To Democracy – July 13
---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
From: ReadingLiberally-SaltLake@johnkarls.com
To: ReadingLiberallyEmailList@johnkarls.com
Bcc: The Approximately 150 Recipients of Our Weekly E-mail
Subject: July 13th Meeting Cancelled – Attila Relenyi’s Topic Proposal Is Our Focus For August 10th
Date: Sat, June 25, 2016
Time: 2:14 am MDT – 3:19 am MDT (due to 100/hour limit)
Attachment:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Friends,
*****
Cancellation Of Our July 13th Meeting
As stated in last Saturday’s weekly e-mail (and, indeed, in the first e-mail of every monthly cycle), our July 13th meeting would be cancelled unless a minimum quorum of 6 RSVP’s had been received by 11:59 pm last evening.
Unfortunately, only 5 RSVP’s were received -- from Ted Gurney, Elizabeth (“Tucker”) Gurney, George Kunath, June Taylor (aka Utah Owl) and Yours Truly.
Accordingly, our July 13th meeting is cancelled.
*****
Maintaining Standards
We should be proud (in a perverse sense) that this is only the third time in our 10.5-year history that we have failed to achieve a quorum.
Each of the previous two times we had received only 5 RSVP’s, the Q arose whether an exception couldn’t be made.
However, we have always adhered to the principle that making exceptions to standards really means having no standards.
*****
August 10 Topic
The August 10 topic is Attila Relenyi’s Proposal = Dragnet Nation: A Quest for Privacy, Security, and Freedom in a World of Relentless Surveillance by Julia Angwin ($14.38 paperback + shipping or $9.99 Kindle from Amazon.com - 320 pages).
Explanation =
Ordinarily, each month’s participants vote on the topic for the following month.
However, that is not possible when a meeting is cancelled.
On both occasions that it was necessary to select a month’s topic following the cancellation of the previous month’s meeting, we followed the principle that rather than become stuck on a topic that might never be capable of mustering a quorum, we would select the Proposed Topic that had received the greatest number of views on our bulletin board, http://www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org.
Ironically, of the three topics currently posted, the greatest number of views (currently 314) has been received by Thomas Sowell’s The Vision of the Anointed which was proposed by Lewis Williams, a Delta Airlines pilot.
The reason why this is ironic is that the proposal of The Vision of the Anointed expired on June 15 when it failed to receive a vote for the 6th meeting in a row.
Accordingly Julia Angwin’s Dragnet Nation (currently with 136 views) is the focus for our August 10 meeting.
********************
We hope to see all of you on August 10th.
Your friend,
John K.
PS -- To un-subscribe, please press "reply" and type "deletion requested." - 2 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
The Pending Cancellation Emai…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - THE ONE AND ONL…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
The American Jobs Creation (s…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – 5 Easy Theses: Commonsense Solutions to America’s Greatest Economic Challenges – June 15
.
Ordinarily there are included in Reference Materials, inter alia, book reviews from the NY Times and the Washington Post (and, if our focus book is on a financial topic, The Wall Street Journal and, if it is on an international topic, one of the leading London newspapers).
Although “5 Easy Theses” was published by Houghton Mifflin more than a month ago on 5/3/2016, there do NOT appear to be any book reviews in any newspapers (major or minor) except The Boston Globe.
Accordingly, the review from The Boston Globe is posted in this section.
In addition, the reader’s attention is called to all of the Editorial Review Excerpts included in the Original Proposal (which is the second section above on this Bulletin Board) from –
Paul A. Volcker, Chairman of the Federal Reserve (1979 to 1987) under Presidents Carter and Reagan and currently chairman of the Volcker Alliance
Edward O. Wilson, University Research Professor Emeritus, Harvard University, Twice Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Non-Fiction
Tom Daschle, Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader (Democrat, S. Dakota)
David T. Ellwood, Scott M. Black Professor of Political Economy and Former Dean of the Harvard U’s Kennedy School of Government
Clayton Yeutter, former Chairman, Republican National Committee, and former United States Secretary of Agriculture
Norman Ornstein, author, political scientist, and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute
Jonathan D. Quick, MD, MPH, Management Sciences for Health, Global Health Council, and Harvard Medical School
Michael S. Helfer, Former Vice Chairman, Citigroup, Inc.
Lawrence S. Bacow, President of Tufts University (2001-2011)
Our apologies for not posting the review from The Boston Globe earlier -- we were hoping for book reviews from our traditional sources. However, we now have only 8 days to go until our June 15 meeting.
John K. -- 6/7/2016 - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - The Boston Globe
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 3 Topics
- 6 Posts
-
Last post
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentine…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 8 Posts
-
Last post
Original NFL Report Proved Sc…
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
We Have Our Quorum
by UtahOwl View the latest post
-
- 5 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
Evicted - Book Review - The L…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by UtahOwl View the latest post
-
- 5 Topics
- 6 Posts
-
Last post
Re: The Solution To The Expor…
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Murder By Gun Vs. Murder By J…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 5 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - Dark Money - Th…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
We Have Our Quorum
by TheChancellors View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - The New York Ti…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers To The Shor…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Nuclear Waste (Or Lack Thereo…
by Pat View the latest post
-
- 7 Topics
- 11 Posts
-
Last post
Interesting Radio Show on Onc…
by UtahOwl View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
We Have Our Quorum
by Ted Gurney View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials - Capitalism vs. The Climate – Feb 17
.
Ordinarily there are included in Reference Materials, inter alia, book reviews from the NY Times and the Washington Post (and, if our focus book is on a financial topic, The Wall Street Journal and, if it is on an international topic, one of the leading London newspapers).
The Washington Post does not appear to have reviewed Naomi Klein's book.
But this section does include the NY Times book review and, since Klein is Canadian and often comments from a Canadian and/or international perspective, there is also included a book review from The Globe and Mail, Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper. - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - The New York Ti…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Special Meeting Procedures Di…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by UtahOwl View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Re: Suggested Answers to Q13
by UtahOwl View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review – The Sixth Extin…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Suggested Discussion Outline – Saving Capitalism by Robert Reich – Dec 16
.
Dear Friends,
Our next meeting is Wednesday evening Dec 16.
Please join us for OUR TENTH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION from 6:30 pm > 7:00 pm (more info below) or, if you prefer, come only from 7:00 pm > 8:55 pm for our formal discussion.
********************
VENUE CHANGE TO RED LION HOTEL (161 West 600 South)
On December 16 we will meet in a guest room at the Red Lion Hotel because “there IS room at the inn” (but NOT at the library).
The Red Lion is 1.5 blocks south & 3.5 blocks west of the library, at 161 West 600 South. [You can’t miss it, a large 13-story building on the south side of 600 South.]
RSVP’s will receive an e-mail at 3 pm on Dec 16 containing the Room Number at the Red Lion Hotel, so you don’t have to wait in line at the desk in the lobby to ask.
[NB: If you do stop at the front desk, the room reservation is under John Karls.]
********************
TENTH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
December 2005 was when we selected our first book and began reading for our first meeting in January 2006.
So in addition to our normal coffee and cookies, please join us 30 minutes early at 6:30 pm for our annual brief pre-discussion celebration with our traditional (for anniversaries) carrot cake and Champagne.
********************
OUR FOCUS BOOK
Saving Capitalism by Robert Reich ($20.23 + shipping or $13.99 Kindle from Amazon.com - 219 pages sans notes & index).
However, our long-standing tradition is that first-time visitors who just want to give us a try are not expected to have read the materials.
********************
SKYPE PARTICIPATION
Non-Utah-residents (and residents who are out of town) are invited to participate in our meeting via Skype.
If you would like to do so, please e-mail ReadingLiberally-SaltLake@johnkarls.com with the subject “Request Participation Via Skype” and we will contact you to make appropriate arrangements.
********************
We hope to see all of you on the 16th!!!
Reading Liberally – Salt Lake - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Q&A B-2 and 1968 Executive Or…
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - Saving Capitali…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Suggested Discussion Outline - The Teacher Wars: A History of America's Most Embattled Profession - Nov 18
.
THE PROVERBIAL TEAT ON THE WHALE
Our author, Dana Goldstein, made an amazing admission buried on p. 208 of The Teacher Wars that teacher quality accounts for only approximately 7% of the achievement and employment gaps in America, with the remaining 93% driven by out-of-school factors according to “the most celebrated value-added study ever conducted.”
Published in the American Economic Review in 2014, the study by Professors Chetty, Friedman and Rockoff examined 20 years of data for more than one million children and their teachers from third grade to adulthood.
This did NOT surprise the participants at our Nov 18 meeting.
Tucker Gurney (retired U/Utah Biology Prof) recounted the year she spent working for the Red Cross on Chicago’s notorious South Side after graduating from the U/Chicago in 1962 before starting her PhD.
The conditions she described were similar to those that John Karls often reminds us were typical of the 178 “I Have A Dream”® Progams in 51 American inner-cities in the 1990’s that provided individual tutors and mentors for an entire inner-city school class (or housing-project class cohort) as it progressed from third grade through high school graduation with a guarantee of college tuition:
(1) 99% of “Dreamers” living in single-adult households;
(2) 95% of total Dreamers living in single-adult households headed by a druggie; and
(3) 75%-80% of total Dreamers living in a single-adult household headed by a druggie who hands all receipts over to the pusher so the children have to steal just in order to eat.
It was not surprising that inner-city children knew by the age of 5 that they were NOT eligible for their dreams. And that their only realistic career objectives were pusher or pimp, or girl friend of a pusher or pimp graduating to whore.
What was surprising is that the IHAD Programs were able to achieve 90% of their Dreamers graduating from high school and going to college -- DESPITE THE FACT that the classes just ahead and just behind the Dreamer class typically had SINGLE-DIGIT high-school graduation rates.
Although The Teacher Wars provided a wealth of information about the Teat On The Whale (teacher effectiveness), it reminded us of how the IHAD Program had showed America The Promised Land by treating inner-city education as a SOCIOLOGY problem rather than an EDUCATION problem.
And how Bill and Melinda Gates and their foundation had caused America to turn away from The Promised Land and, for a decade, to worship the False Idol of breaking up inner-city schools into smaller units.
And after admitting the failure of that approach, causing America to Wander In The Wilderness for another decade worshipping the False Idol of School Choice which was evaluated in a national study in 2009 conducted by Stanford University and FINANCED BY THE PRO-CHARTER WALTON FAMILY FOUNDATION AND THE MICHAEL AND SUSAN DELL FOUNDATION of 2,403 charter schools (about half of all charter schools and 70% of all charter-school students) -- which found that 37% of the charter schools had learning gains that were SIGNIFICANTLY BELOW those of local public schools, 46% had gains that were no different, and ONLY 17 PER CENT had growth that was significantly better (this despite “cherry picking” the best applicants and expelling poor-performing students!!!).
It is also a shame that during 2008-2011, the top 21 National and California politicians and 43 news-media superstars refused to permit $84 billion of private funding to be used to provide IHAD or IHAD-style programs for 10 million inner-city children (details are available in the third & fourth sections of this Bulletin Board).
But after our unsuccessful attempt to enlist the help of Pope Francis (please see our 6/17/2015 e-mail campaign described in the first section of this Bulletin Board), we did NOT have any other ideas at our Nov 18 meeting for what could be done. - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Changing Our Meeting Date to …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
The Teacher Wars by Dana Gold…
by Thomas Chancellor View the latest post
-
- 5 Topics
- 10 Posts
-
Last post
Reply No. 5 - PBS NewsHour Re…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Prof. Diane Ravitch Blog - Bo…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
The 2008 Impact Of The 2004 A…
by Pat View the latest post
-
-
Original Proposal - Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception by George Akerlof and Robert Shiller – Oct 14
.
OUR FOCUS BOOK (proposed by June Taylor, U/Utah’s Radiology Research Prof & Long-Time Reading Liberally Regular) --
Our focus will be Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception by two Nobel-Prize Economists, George A. Akerlof and Robert J. Shiller (official release date 9/22/2015 but available immediately from Amazon.com for 17.94 + shipping or $14.72 Kindle -- 288 pages).
Ever since Adam Smith, the central teaching of economics has been that free markets provide us with material well-being, as if by an invisible hand. In Phishing for Phools, Nobel Prize-winning economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller deliver a fundamental challenge to this insight, arguing that markets harm as well as help us. As long as there is profit to be made, sellers will systematically exploit our psychological weaknesses and our ignorance through manipulation and deception. Rather than being essentially benign and always creating the greater good, markets are inherently filled with tricks and traps and will "phish" us as "phools."
Phishing for Phools therefore strikes a radically new direction in economics, based on the intuitive idea that markets both give and take away. Akerlof and Shiller bring this idea to life through dozens of stories that show how phishing affects everyone, in almost every walk of life. We spend our money up to the limit, and then worry about how to pay the next month's bills. The financial system soars, then crashes. We are attracted, more than we know, by advertising. Our political system is distorted by money. We pay too much for gym memberships, cars, houses, and credit cards. Drug companies ingeniously market pharmaceuticals that do us little good, and sometimes are downright dangerous.
Phishing for Phools explores the central role of manipulation and deception in fascinating detail in each of these areas and many more. It thereby explains a paradox: why, at a time when we are better off than ever before in history, all too many of us are leading lives of quiet desperation. At the same time, the book tells stories of individuals who have stood against economic trickery--and how it can be reduced through greater knowledge, reform, and regulation.
********************
OUR AUTHORS
*****
Prof. George A. Akerlof (BA Yale 1962, PhD MIT 1966) won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001 for the “analyses of markets with asymmetric information.” He taught economics at U/Cal-Berkeley 1966-2010. At age 70 in 2010, he retired from U/Cal-Berkeley to follow his wife to Washington DC where he became The University Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University.
His wife is Janet Yellen, Chairman of the Federal Reserve. They have an adult son who is also an Economics Professor.
*****
Prof. Robert J. Shiller (BA U/Mich 1967, PhD MIT 1972) won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2013 for his “empirical analysis of asset prices.” He is the Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale U where he also teaches at Yale Law School and at Yale’s School of Management.
Among his many publications, Prof. Shiller teamed up with Prof. Akerlof in 2009 to co-author the popular book -- Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives The Economy, And Why It Matters For Global Capitalism. - 1 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
The Real Source of June Taylo…
by Pat View the latest post
-
-
-
Participant Comments - Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception by George Akerlof and Robert Shiller – Oct 14
.
1. Has Donald Trump proposed another economic meltdown equal to 2008???
2. Does Donald Trump really think there is $2.5 TRillion (yes, that’s TRillion with 12 zeros) stuffed in mattresses in the tax-haven subsidiaries of the U.S.-based Multi-National Companies (MNC’s)???
3. Does Donald Trump even realize that he is proposing that the CHUMP American Companies that did NOT export American jobs would be forced to reduce their payrolls and capital expenditures by $2.5 TRillion in order to repay their loans from the tax-haven subsidiaries of the U.S.-based MNC’s that DID export American jobs???
4. In other words --
Is Donald Trump “Phishing” for the “Phools” he believes American voters to be???
OR
Is Donald Trump himself a “Phish” who has been “Phooled” by the slick lobbyists of the U.S.-based MNC’s that have exported American jobs???
5. Have we already seen this movie???
*****
Hint = Please see --
(A) the seventh posting under the first section of http://www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org dated 11/14/2012 and entitled “$5 Trillion Reductions in American Payroll > Meltdowns” and
(B) the third posting under that same first section of http://www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org dated 2/12/2014 and entitled “Renewing 1968 Executive Order 11387 To Halt American Job Exports.”
*****
6. Would it be better to elect Carly Fiorina who at least understands how U.S.-based MNC’s have exported American jobs and what the ramifications of that are???
7. And would it be better to elect Ben Carson who appears to have the common sense not to listen to lobbyists for U.S.-based MNC’s which have exported American jobs -- but instead might be able to perform as a brilliant surgeon who carefully deals with the problems created by the loans to the CHUMP American companies that did NOT export American jobs from the tax-haven subs of the U.S.-based MNC’s that did??? - 5 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
DonaldTrump’sBeliefIn$2.5Tril…
by Pat View the latest post
-
-
-
Reference Materials - Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception by George Akerlof and Robert Shiller – Oct 14
.
In this section we usually post, inter alia, several book reviews of our focus book.
Since Phishing for Phools is not scheduled for official release until 9/22/2015 (although it is available now as of 9/12/2015 from Amazon.com), there appear to be only two book reviews -- (1) from the Wall Street Journal, and (2) from Live Mint, the second-largest business newpaper in India.
More book reviews and other information will be posted here when they become available. - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - Wall Street Jou…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
Attachment 4-Bios-EricSchmidt…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Original Proposal - The Impending Adverse Impact Of New Technology on Employment and Income Inequality – Sep 9th
.
Our focus will be The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee ($16.03 + shipping or $12.99 Kindle from Amazon.com -- 320 pages).
Erik Brynjolfsson is the director of the MIT Center for Digital Business and one of the most cited scholars in information systems and economics. Andrew McAfee is a principal research scientist at the MIT Center for Digital Business and the author of Enterprise 2.0.
Excerpts from the Washington Post book review of The Second Machine Age --
“Now come two professors from MIT with a more optimistic and intriguing hypothesis -- namely, that the global economy is on the cusp of a dramatic growth spurt driven by smart machines that finally take full advantage of advances in computer processing, artificial intelligence, networked communication and the digitization of just about everything.
“The big winners in this new era will be consumers, who will be able to buy a wider range of higher-quality goods and services at lower prices. The other winners will be those who create and finance the new machines or figure out how best to use them to gain competitive advantage. Great wealth will be created in the process.
“In the first machine age -- the age of Kodak (which employed 145,000 people) -- productivity, employment and median income all rose in tandem. In the second, the growth in productivity has essentially been decoupled from jobs and income. And this divergence has its roots not in labor law or tax codes, Brynjolfsson and McAfee argue, but in the very nature of the digital economy, in which a set of goods and services can be provided to an infinite number of additional customers, all at the same time, at a cost that is often close to zero.” - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Work, Progress & Prosperity I…
by Ted Gurney View the latest post
-
-
- 2 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Q&A-17’s Claim Robert Moses B…
by Pat View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Washington Post Book Review -…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers To The Shor…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by UtahOwl View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 7 Posts
-
Last post
Fox News - Unfair and Unbalan…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – Joan Walsh’s “What’s the Matter with White People?” – Aug 12
.
Ordinarily, we post in this section book reviews from the NY Times and the Washington Post. [In addition, we usually post book reviews from the Wall Street Journal if the month’s book focuses on a financial issue and several British newspapers if the focus is on an international issue.]
However, it appears that neither the New York Times nor the Washington Post reviewed “What’s the Matter with White People?”
Accordingly, there is posted a review from the San Francisco Chronicle, the only newspaper in the same league as the NYT or the WP that appears to have reviewed “What’s the Matter with White People?”
In addition, there is posted a Joan Walsh OpEd article in the NY Times regarding a speech by President Obama on gun control.
Finally, the initial set of postings includes a book review from The New Republic, an excerpt from which was included in Utah Owl’s original proposal. - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
San Francisco Chronicle Book …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Nazila Fathi’s 2/16/2012 inte…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Text of the NY Times Article …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
New York Times Book Review - …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
CALL TO ACTION – "SIX-DEGREES-OF-SEPARATION" E-MAIL CAMPAIGN – POPE FRANCIS AND 23% OF U.S. CHILDREN IN POVERTY
.
RESPECTFULLY REQUESTING POPE FRANCIS DURING HIS IMPENDING FIRST VISIT TO THE U.S. TO CALL UPON AMERICAN CHRISTIANS IN GENERAL AND ROMAN CATHOLICS IN PARTICULAR TO LOVE THEIR NEIGHBORS AS THEMSELVES IN THE PERSON OF THE 23% OF U.S. CHILDREN WHO UNICEF CONFIRMS LIVE IN POVERTY - 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
POPE FRANCIS AND ARCHBISHOP K…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Suggested Discussion Outline - The Hoax of the School-Privatization Movement - June 17
SUB-TEXT -- WHY OUR POLITICIANS AND MAINSTREAM MEDIA ARE TRYING TO DISTRACT US WITH INCIDENTS OF ALLEGED POLICE BRUTALITY RATHER THAN FOCUSING ON WHAT REALLY AILS OUR INNER CITIES!!! - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Original Proposal - The Hoax of the School-Privatization Movement - June 17
SUB-TEXT -- WHY OUR POLITICIANS AND MAINSTREAM MEDIA ARE TRYING TO DISTRACT US WITH INCIDENTS OF ALLEGED POLICE BRUTALITY RATHER THAN FOCUSING ON WHAT REALLY AILS OUR INNER CITIES!!! - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by Pat View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Participant Comments - The Hoax of the School-Privatization Movement - June 17……………………………………… AMERICA’S APARTHEID “JUSTICE” SYSTEM -- BALTIMORE, AMERICAN INNER-CITIES AND TOM BRADY
SUB-TEXT -- WHY OUR POLITICIANS AND MAINSTREAM MEDIA ARE TRYING TO DISTRACT US WITH INCIDENTS OF ALLEGED POLICE BRUTALITY RATHER THAN FOCUSING ON WHAT REALLY AILS OUR INNER CITIES!!!
In addition to our normal Participant Comments including our Short Quizzes and Suggested Answers Thereto, click here for John Karls’ 5/10/2015 posting entitled AMERICA’S APARTHEID “JUSTICE” SYSTEM -- BALTIMORE, AMERICAN INNER-CITIES AND TOM BRADY which occupied the first three sections of the face of this bulletin board until 5/14/2015. - 8 Topics
- 11 Posts
-
Last post
Abandoning The Magnet-School …
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Thieves Of State: Why Corrupt…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials - The Hoax of the School-Privatization Movement - June 17
SUB-TEXT -- WHY OUR POLITICIANS AND MAINSTREAM MEDIA ARE TRYING TO DISTRACT US WITH INCIDENTS OF ALLEGED POLICE BRUTALITY RATHER THAN FOCUSING ON WHAT REALLY AILS OUR INNER CITIES!!!
The NY Times Book Review posted in this section was authored by Jonathan Kozol.
Jonathan Kozol’s award-winning books over the last half century have tried to convince America that it has created a permanent “untouchable” under-caste as a result of its racism – (1) The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America (2005); (2) Ordinary Resurrections: Children in the Years of Hope (2001); (3) Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation (1995); (4) Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools (1991); (5) Rachel and Her Children (1988); (6) Illiterate America (1985); (7) The Night is Dark and I Am Far From Home: Political Indictment of US Public Schools (1975); (8) Death at an Early Age (1967).
In Honor of Jonathan Kozol was written by John Karls “Inner-City Holocaust and America’s Apartheid ‘Justice’ System” which is described at length in the third and fourth sections of this bulletin board.
*****
Please also see --
the materials for our 9/12/2012 meeting which focused on Diane Ravitch’s earlier book “The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education”
and
the materials for our 1/13/2010, 5/16/2009, and 1/22/2009 meetings regarding inner-city education.
. - 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
New York Times Book Review by…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Thieves Of State - Wall Stree…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 5 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
Attitudes Toward The Islamic …
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Meeting Report
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Original Proposal - Corruption in America – April 8
.
Our next meeting is Wednesday evening, April 8th, at the Salt Lake Public Library (210 East 400 South) in Conference Room D -- ACROSS THE HALL FROM OUR REGULAR CONFERENCE ROOM C.
Our focus will be Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin’s Snuff Box to Citizens United by Prof. Zephyr Teachout (Harvard Univ Press 9/29/2014 – 305 pages sans notes and index) available from Amazon.com for $22.19 + shipping for hardcover or $9.88 Kindle -- proposed by Thomas and Denise Chancellor.
When French King Louis XVI presented Benjamin Franklin with a snuff box encrusted with diamonds and inset with the King’s portrait, the gift troubled Americans because it threatened to “corrupt” Franklin by clouding his judgment or altering his attitude toward the French in subtle psychological ways. This broad understanding of political corruption -- rooted in ideals of civic virtue -- was a driving force at the Constitutional Convention. For two centuries the framers’ ideas about corruption flourished in the courts, even in the absence of clear rules governing voters, civil officers, and elected officials. Should a law that was passed by a state legislature be overturned because half of its members were bribed? What kinds of lobbying activity were corrupt, and what kinds were legal? When does an implicit promise count as bribery? In the 1970s the U.S. Supreme Court began to narrow the definition of corruption, and the meaning has since changed dramatically. No case makes that clearer than Citizens United.
Zephyr Teachout is an Associate Professor at Fordham U School of Law. When, in 2014, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was running for re-election, Prof. Teachout challenged him in the Democratic Primary and received 33.47% of the vote. Prof. Teachout is a media expert who served as the Director of Internet Organizing for the 2004 Howard Dean presidential campaign. In 2009, she co-founded A New Way Forward, an organization built to break up the power of big banks, and became the first national director of the Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that had been founded in 2006 with a goal of increasing transparency and accountability in the United States Congress, the executive branch, and in state and local governments. - 0 Topics
- 0 Posts
- No posts
-
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Q&A’s - Our 3/10/2010 Meeting…
by Pat View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Text of US Supreme Court's De…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
So Why Are NOT Iran and the P…
by Pat View the latest post
-
-
Original Proposal - Leon Panetta’s Worthy Fights and President Obama’s Military Force Authorization - March 11
Our next meeting is Wednesday evening, March 11, at the Salt Lake Public Library (210 East 400 South) in Conference Room C.
Our focus will be Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace by Leon Panetta [Penguin Press 10/7/2014 – 467 pages sans notes & index – available from your local library or for $13.29 + $3.99 shipping through Amazon.com – Amazon’s price is $26.25 + shipping but below Amazon’s price click on “71 New from $13.29” and order from chs625].
Leon Panetta was (1) a Democratic Congressman from California 1977-1993 (House Budget Committee Chair 1989-1993); (2) President Clinton’s Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 1993-1994; (3) President Clinton’s Chief of Staff 1994-1997; (4) President Obama’s CIA Director 2/13/2009- 6/30/2011; and (5) President Obama’s Secretary of Defense 7/1/2011-2/27/2013.
Since “60 Minutes” on 9/21/2014, “Worthy Fights” has created a veritable firestorm in the national media -- and in the form of “push back” from Vice President Biden in stark contrast to standard Obama Administration reaction to books by former Administration Officials that the Obama Administration “never does book reviews”!!!
The two explosive issues discussed by Leon Panetta in “Worthy Fights” and on “60 Minutes” are his contention that The Islamic State (aka ISIS aka ISIL formerly AQI or Al Qaeda in Iraq) is the direct result of (1) President Obama’s refusal to accept his advice and the advice of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, CIA Director David Patraeus and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Martin Dempsey to arm the Syrian moderate rebels 3 years earlier, and (2) President Obama’s refusal to push for a residual force of 10,000 American military personnel in Iraq in 2011 over the objections of himself, Hillary Clinton, David Patraeus and Martin Dempsey.
The reason for the media firestorm???
As both an Obama loyalist AND a Clinton loyalist, Worthy Fights is viewed by the media as providing cover for Hillary for what might be viewed as two pivotal foreign-policy disasters when she was Secretary of State.
So it is ironic that only 32 minutes after President Obama’s Request to Congress for an Authorization for Use of Military Force Against ISIL was posted on http://www.WhiteHouse.com, the attendees of our 2/11/2015 meeting voted to focus on Worthy Fights for our 3/11/2015 meeting. [And, no, we weren’t aware at the time of the posting but we knew the AUMF was imminent.] - 1 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
NY Times Book Review by Dr. L…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
The Bill Moyers Interview to …
by Pat View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Amending the 2/11/2015 AUMF R…
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
White House Blog - What You N…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 10 Topics
- 12 Posts
-
Last post
George Orwell and The Definit…
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Prof. Diane Ravitch Book Revi…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Suggested Discussion Outline - Hillary Distancing Herself From Pres. Obama Re The Islamic State - For Sep 3
.
After 8.5 years, John Karls is taking a sabbatical through year end from serving as the facilitator for our group, as described in greater detail in the sixth and seventh sections below.
In the meantime, we are having occasional discussions of political topics without elaborate preparations and following ad hoc arrangements. - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Original Proposal - Hillary Distancing Herself From Pres. Obama Re The Islamic State - For Sep 3
.
After 8.5 years, John Karls is taking a sabbatical through year end from serving as the facilitator for our group, as described in greater detail in the fifth and sixth sections below.
In the meantime, we are having occasional discussions of political topics without elaborate preparations and following ad hoc arrangements. - 2 Topics
- 7 Posts
-
Last post
Fifth Attachment - Biden OpEd…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Participant Comments - Hillary Distancing Herself From Pres. Obama Re The Islamic State - For Sep 3
.
After 8.5 years, John Karls is taking a sabbatical through year end from serving as the facilitator for our group, as described in greater detail in the fourth and fifth sections below.
In the meantime, we are having occasional discussions of political topics without elaborate preparations and following ad hoc arrangements. - 8 Topics
- 8 Posts
-
Last post
Islamic Martyrs & 70 Close Re…
by Pat View the latest post
-
-
-
Participant Comments - American Exceptionalism: Fact or Fiction??? - Aug 6th
.
Since we are following ad hoc procedures for the Aug 6th meeting, this is the only other traditional bulletin-board section being provided. - 3 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
Ezra Klein’s Washington Post …
by Pat View the latest post
-
-
-
Reference Materials - Hillary Distancing Herself From Pres. Obama Re The Islamic State - For Sep 3
.
Please click here for an 8/14/2014 report of French Socialist President François Hollande's direct arms shipments to the Iraqi Kurds and British Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron's 8/17/2014 OpEd in the London Telegraph and the reaction of The Guardian, The Daily Mail and the Telegraph itself.
The Atlantic interview of Hillary Clinton is appended to “Original Ad Hoc Meeting Proposal” which is posted in the second-preceding section of this bulletin board entitled “Original Proposal.”
Appended to “Final Proposal + Short Quiz” which is posted in the second-preceding section of this bulletin board entitled “Original Proposal” are --
(1) Pope Francis’ 8/9/2014 letter to the U.N. Secretary General and the 8/13/2014 statements of the Vatican’s Ambassador to the U.N. declaring that fighting The Islamic State comports with the Just War Doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church; and
(2) Vice President Biden’s 6/4/2007 OpEd (when he was still Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee) entitled “CSI: Nukes” responding to Osama bin Laden’s fatwa to nuke 10 million Americans (which can NOT be revoked now that ObL is dead) in which Biden proposed that since fissile material has “DNA” that proves the country of origin, the U.S. should announce a policy of “nuclear annihilation” against any country whose fissile materials are used by terrorists in a nuclear attack on the U.S. - 2 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
Reaction in The London Telegr…
by Pat View the latest post
-
-
-
Original Proposal - American Exceptionalism: Fact or Fiction??? - Aug 6th
.
After 8.5 years, John Karls is taking a sabbatical through year end from serving as the facilitator of our group, as described in greater detail in the second and third sections below.
In the meantime, we are having occasional discussions of political topics without elaborate preparations and following ad hoc arrangements.
The original proposal of discussing Dinesh D’Souza’s movie “America” and the TV interviews of Prof. William Ayers, who was the Co-Founder in the 1960’s of the Anti-Vietnam-War Weather Underground, is posted in this section. - 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
The Attachment To The Foregoi…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
MEETING CANCELLATION + SABBATICAL
---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Meeting Cancellation + Sabbatical
From: ReadingLiberally-SaltLake@johnkarls.com
Date: Sat, April 19, 2014 3:39 am - 4:52 am MDT
To: ReadingLiberallyEmailList@johnkarls.com
Bcc: The Approximately 150 Recipients Of Our Weekly E-mail
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Friends,
Similarly to the first weekly e-mail in each monthly cycle since last June, last week’s e-mail began with the following section concerning our May meeting -
******************************
RSVP's REQUESTED BY NEXT FRIDAY
In accordance with our quorum-policy revision of 6/12/2013, instead of waiting until the last week before each monthly meeting to request RSVP's and canceling if we do not have our minimum quorum of six, RSVP's are requested in our first-of-the-monthly-cycle weekly e-mail.
Those who have RSVP’d will be informed immediately when we reach six so they can proceed to read the materials with assurance a discussion will take place.
If there are not six RSVP's by 11:59 pm next Friday, then next week's weekly e-mail will announce that the 5/7/2014 meeting is cancelled.
[Editorial Note: The meeting had been scheduled for 5/7/2014 because Yours Truly has to be back in NYC on 5/14/2014.]
******************************
We did not achieve our quorum. Accordingly, the meeting is cancelled.
******************************
YOURS TRULY’S SABBATICAL & THE 6/11/2014 MEETING
A policy on the only two previous occasions in our 8.5-year history that we failed to achieve a quorum (May 2010 and June 2013) addressed the selection of the topic for the next-subsequent meeting which normally would have been voted upon at the now-cancelled meeting.
Rather than become stuck permanently on a topic that might never be capable of mustering a quorum, our policy both times was to proceed to the topic posted under “Possible Topics” on http://www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org that had received the greatest number of “views” from website users.
That topic is “Defending Hillary’s Putin Attack & Bill’s Ukraine Guarantee” which has received 724 views at this point -- more than 10 times the number of any other proposal.
[“Defending Hillary” also received the second-highest number of votes at our April meeting when attendees voted for the topic of the May meeting.]
Accordingly, “Defending Hillary” will be the topic of the 6/11/2014 meeting -- if it takes place.
The reason for that qualification (“if it takes place”) is that Yours Truly will be taking a Sabbatical until after the 2014 mid-term elections to complete “Inner-City Holocaust and America’s ‘Apartheid’ Justice System (In Honor of Jonathan Kozol and In Memory of John Howard Griffin).”
However, if any of our regular attendees would like to facilitate “Defending Hillary” on 6/11/2014 for which we still have a conference-room reservation at the Salt Lake Public Library, or on the second Wednesday of any month in
[Continued on the face of the next section due to the software limitation on the size of the text on the face of each section.] - 0 Topics
- 0 Posts
- No posts
-
-
-
MEETING CANCELLATION + SABBATICAL (Continued)
the second half of 2014, I would be delighted to send out to the recipients of this newsletter any announcement(s) that are prepared by such a facilitator.
**********
During the past 36 months, Yours Truly has received many inquiries regarding when “Inner-City Holocaust and America’s ‘Apartheid’ Justice System (In Honor of Jonathan Kozol and In Memory of John Howard Griffin)” will be publicly available -- a book that is described at length in the second and third sections of http://www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org.
A partial answer was provided in a closing “footnote” to my Original Proposal for our 9/12/2012 meeting which was entitled “Gates Foundation Crimes Against US Education Policy” and which proposed focusing on “The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education” by Diane Ravitch -- N.Y.U.’s Research Professor of Education and a historian of education; a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution; and a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education.
The closing footnote said --
“I have been asked many times since last Fall [the Fall of 2011] why ‘Inner-City Holocaust’ has not been published yet even though, in the heat of battle, I had said in the many letters to the 21 National and California governmental officials that their lack of support for their 10-million inner-city-children constituents should be an issue in their next election campaigns. Shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court refused last October [10/4/2011] to hear our final appeal, I decided to wait until after the November 2012 elections because the failure of the 43 news-media superstars and failure of the 21 governmental officials is a long-term challenge. And the long-term solution of an electronically-self-published book to be used for ethics classes in law schools and divinity schools, and in undergraduate courses in political science, ethics/philosophy, sociology, etc., does not need to interfere with the re-election chances of officials whose opponents are no more likely to lead us to The Promised Land.”
As the 2012 elections passed, it seemed equally prudent to wait until after the 2014 mid-term elections. [Though I am often amused over the thought that “Inner-City Holocaust and America’s ‘Apartheid’ Justice System” could have any impact on electoral politics, particularly since none of the 21 governmental officials appears from her/his lack of action to have thought so.]
Accordingly, it strikes me that the time is fast approaching (post-2014 elections) to attempt to begin the “tilting with windmills” in fighting for the hearts and minds of America’s next generation.
I hope to see all of you at our January 2015 meeting!!!
Your friend,
John K.
PS -- To un-subscribe, please press "reply" and type "deletion requested." - 0 Topics
- 0 Posts
- No posts
-
-
-
Original Proposal - The Hoax of the School-Privatization Movement - May 7th
.
[Our May meeting will be on the 7th rather than the 14th because John Karls has to be back in NYC on the 14th.] - 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
The Hoax of the School-Privat…
by Ted Gurney View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Senator Feinstein's Reply
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 6 Topics
- 7 Posts
-
Last post
ANS Report on 6th Thorium Ene…
by Cal Burgart View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Weinberg Fdn Article on Thori…
by Cal Burgart View the latest post
-
-
Original Proposal -- Nuclear Fusion and 50 More Years Wandering in the Wilderness Shunning the Promised Land -- April 9th
.
Many of you will recall our Six-Degrees-Of-Separation E-mail Campaigns following our Feb 2014 and Oct 2012 meetings in which stated, inter alia, that (1) LFTR’s (Liquid Floride Thorium Reactors) require minimal containment chambers because meltdowns are physically impossible since LFTR’s operate near atmospheric pressure, (2) LFTR’s do not require elaborate cooling systems because they operate well below the boiling point of molten salt and can be passively cooled, (3) thorium has such an incredibly-high “burn-up” that there is virtually no long-lived radioactive waste, and (4) thorium is so stable that it is impossible to make a nuclear weapon from thorium which is why the U.S. turned to uranium and plutonium instead of thorium.
And implored both President Obama and the DOE Secretary to make Thorium FISSION a reality as soon as possible.
Accordingly, it is shocking and appalling (at least at first blush) to see that the 3/3/2014 issue of The New Yorker is putting its weight behind a nuclear fusion project which has already consumed zillions of dollars over MORE THAN 50 YEARS and is projected to require AT LEAST ANOTHER 10 YEARS (IF EVER) to completion!!!
And requires magnets weighing 2 MILLION POUNDS to suspend in a vacuum the nuclear-fusion material because there are no substances on earth capable of containing it!!!
[No mention in The New Yorker article about what happens if the electric current powering the magnets fails -- for example whether there is an explosion equivalent to the detonation of a nuclear bomb.]
It appears obvious from reading between the lines of The New Yorker article that nuclear fusion suffers from the same problem as uranium-fission reactors = they are both, in essence, trying to control a nuclear/thermonuclear bomb explosion in order to extract energy -- in contrast to thorium which, as mentioned in our e-mail campaigns, is incapable of exploding.
And even if the nuclear-fusion technology after another decade proves feasible, The New Yorker article ignores the horrendous expense of all of the massive equipment comprising each fusion power plant. And how incredibly expensive will be the power-transmission lines for distributing the electricity.
In contrast to the thorium reactors which need no containment chambers. And can be so small (and cheap) that one is located in every basement, making obsolete the incredible expense of power-transmission lines.
******************************
Cal Burgart (PhD in Nuclear Engineering from the US National Nuclear-Research Laboratory at Oak Ridge TN), who served as our nuclear-engineering expert for our 10/10/2012 meeting on Thorium Nuclear Reactors and our 4/13/2011 meeting on the Japanese nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi, will participate in our 4/9/2014 meeting.
Please help us gather and evaluate this and more information about a project that is highly controversial, even though The New Yorker does not seem to think so.
And help us decide whether to send strong rebukes to the Editor of the New Yorker and to U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein who, per the article, is responsible for wasting the U.S. government’s funds on this project. - 1 Topics
- 7 Posts
-
Last post
The New Yorker Article (conti…
by Cal Burgart View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal - Angry Whi…
by TheChancellors View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Shor…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
London Guardian Review - Angr…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Re: RENEWING 1968 EXEC ORDER …
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Original Proposal – 12 Years A Slave, the 1853 autobiography of a free black man who was kidnapped in Washington DC in 1841 and sold into slavery, which became a famous part of the Abolitionist Movement – Feb 12th
.
**********
RSVP’s REQUESTED FOR FEB 12TH
Ellen Birrell and her husband, Jim Hutchins, were stalwarts of Reading Liberally during its first 2-3 years of existence, whereupon they "pulled up stakes" the end of 2008 to sail the world on their yacht, Boldly Go.
They are in town for other matters but will attend our Feb 12th meeting.
Since Ellen and Jim still have so many friends in the area (for example, Ellen was on the Board of the Salt Lake County Democrats), it is respectfully requested that anyone planning to come on Feb 12th RSVP so we know how many “fatted calves” to kill for our post-meeting celebration of Ellen and Jim joining us (traditional fruit pizza and the first round of drinks at Cannella’s on John Karls), and whether to request the library to provide a meeting room for more than 20.
Simply e-mail ReadingLiberally-SaltLake@johnkarls.com with "I will attend Feb 12th (with guest(s) John Doe (and Jane Roe))."
**********
12 YEARS A SLAVE
The movie version of 12 Years A Slave won the 2014 Golden Globe for Best Picture and on Jan 16, it received 9 Academy Award Nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Leading Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.
The movie is based on the autobiography of/by Solomon Northrup which is available from your local library or from Amazon.com for $6.99 + shipping - 152 pages.
"12 Years A Slave" is the 1853 autobiography of a free black man who had been both a husband and father until he was kidnapped in Washington DC in 1841 and sold into slavery.
The autobiography became famous immediately and was a center-piece of the Abolitionist Movement leading to the Civil War.
It is important in painting a realistic picture of slavery.
NOT the "Gone With The Wind" happy servants of friendly masters!!!
BUT RATHER the treatment of slaves as work animals who could be (and frequently were) raped or tortured or killed at will and whose families were routinely ripped apart as children and spouses were sold to other slave masters on distant plantations!!!
Further information, including a PBS Newshour interview of John Ridley, the script-writer for the movie, are contained in the Original Proposal which is posted in this section. - 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
12 Years A Slave - The Golden…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
- 5 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
When Slavery and Its Foes Thr…
by Pat View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials – 12 Years A Slave, the 1853 autobiography of a free black man who was kidnapped in Washington DC in 1841 and sold into slavery, which became a famous part of the Abolitionist Movement – Feb 12th
.
Ordinarily, we include in each month’s Reference Materials section, book reviews (if they exist) from the NY Times and Washington Post -- and the British press for books with international implications and The Wall Street Journal for books with financial implications.
This situation is unique because the autobiography is 160 years old and, although it was the centerpiece of the Abolitionist Movement for the 7 years leading to the American Civil War, it had fallen into obscurity for more than a century until it became the focus of the movie which won the 2014 Golden Globe for Best Picture and has been nominated for 9 Academy Awards including Best Picture.
There do not appear to any book reviews from 160 years ago.
Posted in this section are 4 hybrid reviews -- hybrid in the sense that they focus on the book as well as the movie. In order of relative focus on the book (vs. the movie), they are from:
The London Guardian
The London Telegraph
The London Mail
The New Yorker
Please also see the Original Proposal section above for: (1) a PBS Newshour interview of John Ridley, the author of the movie’s screenplay, and (2) an excerpt from a Wikipedia article summarizing the reaction of movie critics. - 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Hybrid Book Review - The Lond…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Discussion Outline - Magnificent Delusions: Pakistan, the U.S., and An Epic History of Misunderstanding – Jan 8th
.
A brief, final note on Magnificent Delusions in case we ever have occasion to discuss this or any related topics again.
The attendees of our 1/8/2014 meeting were shocked and appalled over how dysfunctional American foreign policy toward Pakistan has been --
(1) Not just the basic non sequitur of why we would provide arms to Pakistan to, in our view, oppose the Soviet Union during The Cold War when over the years we saw virtually all such arms deployed immediately to the Border With India (which is the basic theme of Grand Delusions);
(2) And not just America’s CREATION AND FINANCING OF AL QAEDA CORE AND THE TALIBAN to combat the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan 1979-1989 which Grand Delusions notes that America INCORRECTLY likes to remember as “Charlie Wilson’s War” per the famous Hollywood movie starring Tom Hanks as Charlie Wilson -- INCORRECTLY per Grand Delusions because although it is true that AMERICA CREATED AND FINANCED AL QAEDA CORE AND THE TALIBAN, it did so through the Pakistani military government headed by General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq so that Al Qaeda Core and The Taliban have always been puppets of Pakistan’s ISI-military complex;
(3) And not just America’s constantly certifying that Pakistan did NOT have atomic weapons from 1985 onwards so that under American law we could continue to provide American military aid to Pakistan (our “fig leaf” was that Pakistan did not test the atomic weapons until 1998 so we could pretend they did not exist);
(4) And not just how the impact of President Bill Clinton’s wonderful 3/25/2000 speech at the Islamabad Airport that he insisted be televised live all over Pakistan as his price for helping Pakistan extricate itself from the FOURTH India-Pakistan War was immediately eradicated by the Pakistani media WHICH WAS/IS TIGHTLY CONTROLLED BY PAKISTAN’S ISI-MILITARY COMPLEX (noting that as we have studied many times in the past, democracy can NOT exist without a free press);
(5) But how badly the War on Terror was mis-managed from the outset by Secretary of State Colin Powell!!! We all remember how, immediately after 9/11, Colin Powell organized the War on Terror by famously informing each of the world’s governments that if they weren’t “for us” then they were “against us”!!! But what never appeared in the headlines was the fact that in Pakistan’s case, we were asking the ISI-military complex to throw their Al Qaeda Core and Taliban puppets “under the bus” AND WE KNEW THAT’S WHAT WE WERE ASKING!!! So when Colin Powell personally phoned the head of the Pakistani government -- General Pervez Musharraf -- (per Musharraf’s Memoires as quoted extensively in Grand Delusions at p. 311) to tell him that he “should be prepared to be bombed back into the Stone Age if he did not comply with American demands” the first reaction of Musharraf was to “war-game the United States as an adversary” which caused him to adopt, instead, the time-honored Pakistani strategy of paying “lip service” to American demands while, in this case, trying to preserve his Al Qaeda Core and Taliban puppets insofar as possible to maintain Pakistani control over Afghanistan. And we have been fighting Pakistan’s puppets ever since!!!
So what could we recommend, other than that all other Americans be as shocked and appalled as we were??? - 1 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Re Additional Food Morsel No.…
by Pat View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Answers to the Seco…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials - Magnificent Delusions: Pakistan, the U.S., and An Epic History of Misunderstanding – Jan 8th
.
This section includes book reviews of “Magnificent Delusions” appearing in the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, as well as interviews of the author occurring on the PBS Newshour (aka MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour) and in the New York Times.
**********
Drinking and Driving During The Holidays
Since the preparation period for our January 8th meeting spans the holidays, the following e-mail is also offered as a Reference Material, albeit on a different topic. [Its sender is one of the London recipients of our weekly Reading Liberally e-mail -- Tony Violaris is a long-time friend and fellow opera devotee, and a life-long composer of music for West End/Broadway plays and musicals (his children, Eleni and Adam, have also begun careers as WE/B composers).]
---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Drinking & Driving During The Holidays
From: Andonis Violaris
Date: Sat, December 14, 2013 9:11 am GMT
To: John Karls
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear John,
With the Holidays upon us I'd like to share a personal experience about drinking and driving.
As you may know, some of us have been known to have brushes with the authorities from time to time on the way home after a "social session" out with friends.
Well, two days ago I was out for an evening with friends and had several cocktails followed by some rather nice red wine. Feeling jolly, I still had the sense to know that I might be slightly over the limit. That's when I did something that I've never done before - I took a cab home.
Sure enough on the way home there was a police road block, but since it was a cab they waved it past. I arrived home safely without incident.
This was a real surprise as I had never driven a cab before, I don't know where I got it and now that it's in my garage I don't know what to do with it.
Be safe this holiday season!
Best wishes,
Tony Violaris - 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Book Review - Washington Post
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 4 Topics
- 6 Posts
-
Last post
Life Commencing With Clone-ab…
by Pat View the latest post
-
-
Original Proposal – Third-Trimester Abortions – Dec. 11th
.
******************************
CLICK ON THIS SECTION FOR, INTER ALIA --
(1) The text of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade.
(2) The Wikipedia article on Dr. Kermit Gosnell.
******************************
FOCUS FOR DEC 11TH = THIRD-TRIMESTER ABORTIONS
Our next meeting is Wed evening, December 11th. Unfortunately, we expect to be able to show the movie, After Tiller, before our meeting and -- (1) we are not permitted to show it at the Salt Lake Public Library where our meetings normally take place (we will meet at the nearby home of two of our regular members), and (2) we are not permitted to show it to the public (accordingly only our regular members will be permitted to attend).
Suggested Reference Materials are After Tiller, the movie, the Wikipedia article on Dr. Kermit Gosnell which is posted on http://www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org, the text of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade which is also posted, and any other materials that our participants decide to post.
"After Tiller explores the highly controversial subject of third-trimester abortions in the wake of the 2009 assassination of practitioner Dr. George Tiller. The procedure is now performed by only four doctors in the United States, all former colleagues of Dr. Tiller, who risk their lives every day in the name of their unwavering commitment toward their patients." The movie, which is no longer playing at the Broadway Theatre, presents quite well the view that third-trimester abortions are purely a matter between solely a woman and her doctor.
On the other side of the issue is a massive amount of material published about the murder trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell who was convicted on 3 murder charges and 21 felony counts of illegal late-term abortions which are illegal in Pennsylvania as well as many other states.
As of 10/1/2013, 41 states prohibit abortion after a certain point in the pregnancy -- 21 at fetal viability, 4 in the third trimester, 8 after a certain number of weeks (generally 24 or during the third trimester), and 8 after 20 weeks post-fertilization (or 22 weeks after the last menstrual cycle) on the grounds that the fetus can feel pain after that point.
The US Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade permits states to prohibit third-trimester abortions so long as there are certain exceptions (such as preserving the life of the mother). Accordingly, the Supreme Court will probably soon hear a case from one of the 8 states that prohibit abortions after 22 weeks when fetuses are able to feel pain (24 is the beginning of the third trimester).
Standard procedure for third-trimester abortions per After Tiller is, Step 1, a lethal injection to the heart of the fetus, because natural childbirth (albeit of a dead fetus) is the best way to safeguard the mother's ability to have children in the future.
[Accordingly, one wonders why Dr. Gosnell was "snipping spinal cords" of live viable babies after childbirth, which was the basis of the 3 murder convictions!!!]
******************************
PLEASE RSVP WHETHER YOU WILL ATTEND AND WHETHER YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE AFTER TILLER
(RSVP to ReadingLiberally-SaltLake@johnkarls.com)
If you are one of our regular members, please RSVP to indicate whether you plan to attend so that our hosts, two of our regular members, know for how many attendees to plan.
And whether you would like to see After Tiller immediately prior to our Dec 11th meeting (its running time is 85 minutes, so we plan to show it beginning 5:30 pm to finish by our regular starting time of 7:00 pm). - 1 Topics
- 6 Posts
-
Last post
Text of Roe v. Wade - 3/3
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
-
Participant Comments – Third-Trimester Abortions – Dec. 11th
.
A very-readable text of Roe v. Wade is contained in a Microsoft Word file that is embedded in Q&A-10 of the Suggested Answers to the Short Quiz that are posted in this section. - 4 Topics
- 5 Posts
-
Last post
Q&A-2 and Christ’s Command To…
by Pat View the latest post
-
-
-
Reference Materials – Third-Trimester Abortions – Dec. 11th
.
Please see the section above entitled "Original Proposal" for, inter alia: (1) the Wikipedia article on Dr. Kermit Gosnell, the Philadelphia doctor who was convicted of murdering three just-born children by snipping their spinal cords and convicted on 21 felony counts of illegal third-term abortions under Pennsylvania law, and (2) the text of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 land-mark Roe v. Wade decision finding a constitutional right to abortion (though permitting states to ban third-term abortions provided there are certain exceptions, such as preserving the life of the mother).
Click on this section for additional reference materials such as a NY Times article on Albuquerque NM's 11/19/2013 vote against banning abortion after 20 weeks, which is when fetuses begin to feel pain (24 weeks is the beginning of the third trimester).
As set forth in the Original Proposal: "As of 10/1/2013, 41 states prohibit abortion after a certain point in the pregnancy -- 21 at fetal viability, 4 in the third trimester, 8 after a certain number of weeks (generally 24 or during the third trimester), and 8 after 20 weeks post-fertilization (or 22 weeks after the last menstrual cycle) on the grounds that the fetus can feel pain after that point." So it would appear that the issue of 20 weeks vs. 24 weeks will reach the U.S. Supreme Court soon in cases involving at least one of the 8 states that ban abortion after 20 weeks. - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Methodist Church’s Approval o…
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
The 11-11-13 Iran - Intl Atom…
by Pat View the latest post
-
-
Original Proposal - Who Is Ayatollah Khamenei by an Iranian Journalist/Dissident - Nov 13
.
Our next meeting is Wednesday evening, November 13th, at the Salt Lake Public Library (200 East 400 South).
Our focus will be Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a 15-page article about him in Foreign Affairs Magazine.
[The text of the article is contained in the Original Proposal which is available in this section and it is also posted below in the Reference Materials section.]
When last we focused on American foreign policy, we agreed that preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons is in the national interest because (1) each of the Gulf State Six (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc.) will immediately go nuclear if Iran does, (2) Iran's Supreme Leader is fond of proclaiming that he wants to rule the Middle East and, for good measure, that Israel should be destroyed and Israel is only "a one bomb country" leading one to assume that he will start a nuclear holocaust in no time flat, and (3) 50% of the world's oil supplies come from the Persian Gulf OR DOWNWIND from the Persian Gulf which means that the lives of 3.5 billion of the earth's 7 billion human population would immediately no longer be sustainable (NB: virtually all of the world's fertilizers are made from petrochemicals).
The reason why the Cold War policy of Mutual Assured Destruction ("MAD") worked so well in producing a stable standoff with the Soviet Union is that all of the leaders of the Soviet Union had grown up on farms as a result of which they loved the Russian people and were not about to sacrifice them on the altar of some crazy notion.
But can the same be said of Ayatollah Khamenei???
Particularly when he says at least once a week that he wants to rule the Middle East and, for good measure, nuke Israel.
And when he is perceived as so dangerous and unstable by Turkey, Egypt and the Gulf State Six (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, The United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman) that each has announced that it will go nuclear as soon as Iran does.
[Because none of the eight countries trusts the "American Nuclear Umbrella" any more than Charles de Gaulle when he pulled France out of NATO and developed French nuclear weapons because he believed that America would never engage in nuclear war with the Soviet Union to save France.]
The author of the Foreign Affairs article is Akbar Ganji, an Iranian journalist who has been called "Iran's pre-eminent political dissident." He was imprisoned in Tehran from 2000 to 2006 following which he left Iran. He is an honorary citizen of many European cities and has been showered with many awards. His writings are banned in Iran. - 1 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
NY Times Speculation That Ira…
by Pat View the latest post
-
-
- 6 Topics
- 6 Posts
-
Last post
Reuters - Impending Deal Toda…
by Pat View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials - Who Is Ayatollah Khamenei by an Iranian Journalist/Dissident - Nov 13
.
Click here to access the Foreign Affairs Magazine article on which our November 13th meeting will be focusing. - 4 Topics
- 4 Posts
-
Last post
Commentary Magazine Rebuttal …
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
-
Discussion Outline - Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea - Oct 9th
.
On 10/9/2013 we will discuss the current U.S. governmental shut-down over the failure to enact a “Continuing Resolution” authorizing governmental expenditures after 9/30/2013 as it is merging with the failure to enact an increase in the “Debt Ceiling” needed to continue borrowing after 10/17/2013 when we hit the credit limit on our “national credit card.”
Background for both issues is set forth beautifully in our focus book = Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea by Mark Blyth, Brown U. Prof. Of Intl. Political Economy (Oxford U Press - 4/25/2013 - $18.96 Hardcover + Shipping or $9.50 Kindle from Amazon.com - 244 pages excluding notes & index).
First-time attendees, pursuant to our long-standing policy, are not required to read the book before “dipping their toes in the water” to find out what our discussions are like. - 2 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
Re: "A Synthetic Currency for…
by Pat View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Austerity: The History of a D…
by UtahOwl View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 3 Posts
-
Last post
"Betting The Ranch" (Q&A-12)
by solutions View the latest post
-
-
Reference Materials - Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea - Oct 9th
.
Our focus is “Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea” by Mark Blyth, Brown U. Prof. Of Intl. Political Economy (Oxford U Press – 4/25/2013 – $18.96 Hardcover + Shipping or $9.50 Kindle from Amazon.com – 304 pages).
Ordinarily, we post in this “Reference Materials” section book reviews from the NY Times, Washington Post and other publications vis-à-vis particular topics (e.g., The Wall Street Journal for financial matters or the London Guardian-Observer for international matters).
However, “Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea” has NOT been reviewed by any of these publications.
Nevertheless, posted in this section are reviews of “Austerity” by two well-known American economists:
(1) Harvard Prof. Lawrence Summers – who is one of the two leading candidates* to be appointed by President Obama to succeed Ben Bernanke early next year as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Summers has taken leaves of absence from the Harvard Economics Department to serve as Director of President Obama’s National Economic Council 2009-2010, President of Harvard University 2001-2006, U.S. Treasury Secretary 1999-2001, Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary 1995-1999 and Chief Economist of the World Bank 1991-1993. [Prof. Summers was fired as President of Harvard University for making negative remarks about the ability of women in general to study mathematics and science; obviously Harvard had not done sufficient due diligence in selecting him as President because he had authored an extensive paper as Chief Economist for the World Bank arguing that industries which create extensive pollution should be located in third-world countries where life is cheap -- which should have alerted the Harvard search committee that Prof. Summers is prone to make impolitic statements.] [Movie buffs will also recall the scene in The Social Network where the Winklevoss twins complain to Harvard President Lawrence Summers that Mark Zuckerberg has violated the Harvard Student Handbook in allegedly stealing the Winklevoss’ idea which eventually developed into Facebook.]
(2) Princeton Prof. Paul Krugman – who is a Nobel Laureate and who is also a regular OpEd writer for the NY Times. [Prof. Krugman’s review actually covers “Austerity” and two other books.]
**********************************************************
* Prof. Summers was thought by virtually all political commentators to be President Obama’s first choice to become Federal Reserve Chairman early next year -- however, Prof. Summers withdrew his name from consideration two days after the foregoing information was posted on this bulletin board.
. - 2 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
Review by Prof. Summers of Au…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
DEVELOPING THORIUM AS THE GRE…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
ENFORCEMENT OF OCEAN CONSERVA…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Suggested Discussion Outline
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
Original Proposal - Oceana by…
by Fred Schwab View the latest post
-
- 3 Topics
- 6 Posts
-
Last post
Elaboration Regarding Cecil O…
by solutions View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 1 Posts
-
Last post
NYTimesOpEd On Oceana - What'…
by johnkarls View the latest post
-
- 1 Topics
- 2 Posts
-
Last post
The Proposed Six-Degrees-Of-S…
by Pat View the latest post
-
-
Original Proposal - Our Current House-Of-Cards National Banking System - Aug 14
.
NB: RSVP'S REQUIRED -- PLEASE SEE NEXT SECTION FOR DETAILS.
Our focus will be “The Bankers New Clothes: What’s Wrong with Banking and What To Do About It” by Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig (Princeton U Press – 2/24/2013 - $22.03 from Amazon.com – 392 pages)
Ms. Anat Admati (PhD Stanford; MA, Yale; BSc, Hebrew Univ. Jerusalem) is a Professor at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and Mr. Martin Hellwig (PhD, M.I.T., Diploma in Economics, University of Heidelberg, Germany) is an Economics Professor at the University of Bonn, Germany
The central problem at the core of “The Bankers’ New Clothes” is how thin the capital ratios are for commercial banks, say only 3% of deposits -- compared to, say, even 20% equity being considered “thin” for regular corporations and less than 20% equity being considered “sub prime” for a home mortgage. For Admati and Hellwig, the solution is obvious = increase the capital ratios required by bank regulators.
*****
However, the basic rot which our authors will undoubtedly explain, is caused by the lack of “market discipline” when “free money” is available. In other words, our national banking system obtains “free money” (i.e., deposits at far less than the interest rates that would prevail if the actual degree of risk were taken into account) because of the guarantees of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (”FDIC”). When such “free money” is invested in risky assets such as sub-prime mortgages, the result is disaster.
So why were we so surprised at the recent economic meltdown of commercial banks that invested “f
-