Discussing Liberally Salt Lake City

Section 1 – General Info + Info Re Next Meeting
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NEXT MEETING

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO THE NINTH (FIRST UNNUMBERED) SECTION BELOW FOR INFORMATION ABOUT OUR NEXT MEETING.


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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.

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39 SIX-DEGREES-OF-SEPARATION E-MAIL CAMPAIGNS, 5 REPORTS & 8 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 39 e-mail campaigns over the years are collected in this section. They include 9 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 29 official recommendations are ALL CAPS and the titles of 9 unofficial recommendations are lower case.

The date of the meeting at which each of the 39 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.

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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.”

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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.”

Section 3 – Possible Topics for Future Meetings
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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."

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SHORT-FUSE NOTICE

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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.

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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.

Section 5 – Addendum - Inner-City Holocaust and America's Apartheid "Justice" System
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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!!!

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“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.”

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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?”

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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.

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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!!!

Section 8 – Working Groups Currently Underway
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This section contains information about each of our so-called “Working Groups” that are currently underway.

During our 17 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.

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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.

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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!!!]

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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!!!

Original Proposal – No Trade Is Free: Changing Course, Taking on China, and Helping America's Workers by Robert Lighthizer – Oct 18

Meeting Report – “Poverty, by America” by Prof. Matthew Desmond – AND Letter to President Biden re the United Nations War on Modern Slavery

Discussion Outline – “Poverty, by America” by Prof. Matthew Desmond – Sep 20

Original Proposal – “Poverty, by America” by Prof. Matthew Desmond – Sep 20

Participant Comments – “Poverty, by America” by Prof. Matthew Desmond – Sep 20

Reference Materials – “Poverty, by America” by Prof. Matthew Desmond – Sep 20
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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.

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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.”

Discussion Outline - When Race Trumps Merit: How the Pursuit of Equity Sacrifices Excellence, Destroys Beauty, and Threatens Lives - Aug 16

Original Proposal - When Race Trumps Merit: How the Pursuit of Equity Sacrifices Excellence, Destroys Beauty, and Threatens Lives - Aug 16

Participant Comments - When Race Trumps Merit: How the Pursuit of Equity Sacrifices Excellence, Destroys Beauty, and Threatens Lives - Aug 16

Reference Materials - When Race Trumps Merit: How the Pursuit of Equity Sacrifices Excellence, Destroys Beauty, and Threatens Lives - Aug 16
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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.”

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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.

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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.

Discussion Outline – The U.S. Supreme Court vs. Lower-Court National Injunctions – July 19

Participant Comments – The U.S. Supreme Court vs. Lower-Court National Injunctions – July 19

6/21/2023: The Safer Communities Act of 2022 Proves To Be A Cruel Hoax Vis-a-vis Preventing School Shootings

Reference Materials – The U.S. Supreme Court vs. Lower-Court National Injunctions – July 19
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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.

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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.]

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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.

Discussion Outline – Rabbi Van Lanckton’s 16 Gun-Safety Ideas, Providing Our Schools The Same Protection As Airports & Office Buildings, Etc. – June 21

Participant Comments – Rabbi Van Lanckton’s 16 Gun-Safety Ideas, Providing Our Schools The Same Protection As Airports & Office Buildings, Etc. – June 21

Reference Materials – Rabbi Van Lanckton’s 16 Gun-Safety Ideas, Providing Our Schools The Same Protection As Airports & Office Buildings, Etc. – June 21

Discussion Outline – Oliver Stone’s “Nuclear Now” + “A Bright Future: How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change and the Rest Can Follow” – May 17

Original Proposal – Oliver Stone’s “Nuclear Now” + “A Bright Future: How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change and the Rest Can Follow” – May 17

Participant Comments – Oliver Stone’s “Nuclear Now” + “A Bright Future: How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change and the Rest Can Follow” – May 17
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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.

Reference Materials – Oliver Stone’s “Nuclear Now” + “A Bright Future: How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change and the Rest Can Follow” – May 17
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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.

Meeting Report – “Marked for Life: One Man’s Fight for Justice from the Inside” – April 19

Discussion Outline – Marked for Life: One Man's Fight for Justice from the Inside – April 19
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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)).

Original Proposal – Marked for Life: One Man's Fight for Justice from the Inside – April 19

Participant Comments – Marked for Life: One Man's Fight for Justice from the Inside – April 19

Reference Materials – Marked for Life: One Man's Fight for Justice from the Inside – April 19
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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)

Discussion Outline – The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure – March 15

Original Proposal – The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure – March 15

Participant Comments – The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure – March 15

Reference Materials – The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure – March 15
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Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –

The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post

Discussion Outline – Future Peace: Technology, Aggression, and the Rush to War by Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Robert Latiff – Feb 15

Original Proposal – Future Peace: Technology, Aggression, and the Rush to War by Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Robert Latiff – Feb 15
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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.

Participant Comments – Future Peace: Technology, Aggression, and the Rush to War by Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Robert Latiff – Feb 15

Reference Materials – Future Peace: Technology, Aggression, and the Rush to War by Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Robert Latiff – Feb 15
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“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.

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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.”

Discussion Outline – “Bibi: My Story” by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – Jan 18

Original Proposal – “Bibi: My Story” by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – Jan 18

Participant Comments – “Bibi: My Story” by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – Jan 18
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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.]

Reference Materials – “Bibi: My Story” by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – Jan 18
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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.

Discussion Outline – “Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe” by Prof. Niall Ferguson (husband of Ayaan Hirsi Ali) – Dec 14

Original Proposal – “Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe” by Prof. Niall Ferguson (husband of Ayaan Hirsi Ali) – Dec 14

Participant Comments – “Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe” by Prof. Niall Ferguson (husband of Ayaan Hirsi Ali) – Dec 14

Reference Materials – “Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe” by Prof. Niall Ferguson (husband of Ayaan Hirsi Ali) – Dec 14
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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."

Discussion Outline – A Pox On Both Former Sen. Phil Gramm and Pres. Biden Re Jonathan Kozol’s “Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America” – Nov 16

Original Proposal – A Pox On Both Former Sen. Phil Gramm and Pres. Biden Re Jonathan Kozol’s “Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America” – Nov 16

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
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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.

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
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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.”

Discussion Outline – Volt Rush: The Winners and Losers in the Race to Go Green – Oct 19

Original Proposal – Volt Rush: The Winners and Losers in the Race to Go Green – Oct 19

Participant Comments – Volt Rush: The Winners and Losers in the Race to Go Green – Oct 19

Reference Materials – Volt Rush: The Winners and Losers in the Race to Go Green – Oct 19
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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."

Discussion Outline – What We Owe The Future by Oxford U. Prof. William MacAskill – Sept 21

Original Proposal – What We Owe The Future by Oxford U. Prof. William MacAskill – Sept 21

Participant Comments – What We Owe The Future by Oxford U. Prof. William MacAskill – Sept 21

Reference Materials – What We Owe The Future by Oxford U. Prof. William MacAskill – Sept 21
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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.”

Discussion Outline - “The Dumbest Generation Grows Up: From Stupefied Youth to Dangerous Adults” by Prof. Mark Bauerlein - Aug 17

Original Proposal - “The Dumbest Generation Grows Up: From Stupefied Youth to Dangerous Adults” by Prof. Mark Bauerlein - Aug 17

Participant Comments - “The Dumbest Generation Grows Up: From Stupefied Youth to Dangerous Adults” by Prof. Mark Bauerlein - Aug 17

Reference Materials - “The Dumbest Generation Grows Up: From Stupefied Youth to Dangerous Adults” by Prof. Mark Bauerlein - Aug 17
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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.

Discussion Outline - Climate Change and "How The World Really Works: The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We’re Going" by Prof. Vaclav Smil - July 20

Original Proposal - Climate Change and "How The World Really Works: The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We’re Going" by Prof. Vaclav Smil - July 20

Participant Comments - Climate Change and "How The World Really Works: The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We’re Going" by Prof. Vaclav Smil - July 20

Discussion Outline – Caste: The Origins Of Our Discontents - Oprah’s Book Club – June 15

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
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Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –

The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post

Original Proposal – Caste: The Origins Of Our Discontents - Oprah’s Book Club – June 15

Participant Comments – Caste: The Origins Of Our Discontents - Oprah’s Book Club – June 15

Reference Materials – Caste: The Origins Of Our Discontents - Oprah’s Book Club – June 15
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Traditionally, each month’s “Reference Materials” section includes, inter alia, book reviews from –

The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post

Discussion Outline – “Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win” by Peter Schweizer – May 18

Original Proposal – “Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win” by Peter Schweizer – May 18
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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!!!

Participant Comments – “Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win” by Peter Schweizer – May 18
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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.]

Reference Materials – “Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win” by Peter Schweizer – May 18
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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.

Discussion Outline - The Dying Concept of Citizenship & America’s Southern Border – April 20

Original Proposal - The Dying Concept of Citizenship & America’s Southern Border – April 20
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**********
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

Participant Comments - The Dying Concept of Citizenship & America’s Southern Border – April 20
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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

Reference Materials - The Dying Concept of Citizenship & America’s Southern Border – April 20
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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

Public-Policy Letters Sent to the European Union President & the NATO Secretary General – America’s 1994 Written & Signed Guarantee Of Ukraine’s Independence and Territorial Integrity For Ukraine Surrendering Its 1,900 Nuclear Missiles – March 16

Discussion Outline – America’s 1994 Written & Signed Guarantee Of Ukraine’s Independence and Territorial Integrity For Ukraine Surrendering Its 1,900 Nuclear Missiles – March 16

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
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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.’”

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
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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.

Participant Comments – America’s 1994 Written & Signed Guarantee Of Ukraine’s Independence and Territorial Integrity For Ukraine Surrendering Its 1,900 Nuclear Missiles – March 16

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
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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.]

Discussion Outline – NYC Harvard Club Book Promotion – “Our Broken Elections: How the Left Changed the Way You Vote” – Feb 16
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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.

Original Proposal – NYC Harvard Club Book Promotion – “Our Broken Elections: How the Left Changed the Way You Vote” – Feb 16

Participant Comments – NYC Harvard Club Book Promotion - “Our Broken Elections: How the Left Changed the Way You Vote” – Feb 16
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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.
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Reference Materials – NYC Harvard Club Book Promotion – “Our Broken Elections: How the Left Changed the Way You Vote” – Feb 16
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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.]

Discussion Outline – The Deficit Myth by Democratic Party Economic Guru, Prof. Stephanie Kelton – Jan 19

Original Proposal – The Deficit Myth by Democratic Party Economic Guru, Prof. Stephanie Kelton – Jan 19

Discussion Outline – 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

Participant Comments – The Deficit Myth by Democratic Party Economic Guru, Prof. Stephanie Kelton – Jan 19

Reference Materials – The Deficit Myth by Democratic Party Economic Guru, Prof. Stephanie Kelton – Jan 19
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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.


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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”.]

Original Proposal – 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

Participant Comments – 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

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
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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.]

CONTINUATION OF THE PREVIOUS SECTION
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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.]

Discussion Outline – An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science Of The Immune System – Nov 10

Original Proposal – An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science Of The Immune System – Nov 10

Participant Comments – An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science Of The Immune System – Nov 10

Reference Materials – An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science Of The Immune System – Nov 10
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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.

Discussion Outline – Revisiting The Issue Of Charter Schools: Stanford University vs. Stanford’s Hoover Institution – Oct 13

Original Proposal – Revisiting The Issue Of Charter Schools: Stanford University vs. Stanford’s Hoover Institution – Oct 13
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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.]


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“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.

Participant Comments – Revisiting The Issue Of Charter Schools: Stanford University vs. Stanford’s Hoover Institution – Oct 13

Discussion Outline – Discrimination and Disparities by Thomas Sowell – Sept 8

Reference Materials – Revisiting The Issue Of Charter Schools: Stanford University vs. Stanford’s Hoover Institution – Oct 13
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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.

*****

Original Proposal – Discrimination and Disparities by Thomas Sowell – Sept 8

Participant Comments – Discrimination and Disparities by Thomas Sowell – Sept 8

Reference Materials – Discrimination and Disparities by Thomas Sowell – Sept 8
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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.

Discussion Outline - 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

Original Proposal – 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

Participant Comments – 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

Discussion Outline – “1620: A Critical Response To The 1619 Project” by Peter Wood – July 14

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
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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 –


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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.”



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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.]
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Original Proposal – “1620: A Critical Response To The 1619 Project” by Peter Wood – July 14

Participant Comments – “1620: A Critical Response To The 1619 Project” by Peter Wood – July 14

Reference Materials – “1620: A Critical Response To The 1619 Project” by Peter Wood – July 14
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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.”

Meeting Report – “Predict & Surveil: Data, Discretion & the Future of Policing” by Prof. Sarah Brayne – June 9

Discussion Outline – “Predict & Surveil: Data, Discretion & the Future of Policing” by Prof. Sarah Brayne – June 9

Original Proposal – “Predict & Surveil: Data, Discretion & the Future of Policing” by Prof. Sarah Brayne – June 9

Participant Comments – “Predict & Surveil: Data, Discretion & the Future of Policing” by Prof. Sarah Brayne – June 9

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.]

Discussion Outline – “How To Avoid A Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need” by Bill Gates – May 12

Original Proposal – “How To Avoid A Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need” by Bill Gates – May 12

Participant Comments – “How To Avoid A Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need” by Bill Gates – May 12

Reference Materials – “How To Avoid A Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need” by Bill Gates – May 12
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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.

Discussion Outline – “Cancel Culture: The Latest Attack on Free Speech and Due Process” by Prof. Alan Dershowitz – April 7

Original Proposal – “Cancel Culture: The Latest Attack on Free Speech and Due Process” by Prof. Alan Dershowitz – April 7

Participant Comments – “Cancel Culture: The Latest Attack on Free Speech and Due Process” by Prof. Alan Dershowitz – April 7
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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.

Discussion Outline – “The New Map: Energy, Climate & the Clash of Nations” by Pulitzer-Prize Winner Daniel Yergin – March 10

Reference Materials – “Cancel Culture: The Latest Attack on Free Speech and Due Process” by Prof. Alan Dershowitz – April 7
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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!!!

Original Proposal – “The New Map: Energy, Climate & the Clash of Nations” by Pulitzer-Prize Winner Daniel Yergin – March 10

Participant Comments – “The New Map: Energy, Climate & the Clash of Nations” by Pulitzer-Prize Winner Daniel Yergin – March 10

Resource Materials – “The New Map: Energy, Climate & the Clash of Nations” by Pulitzer-Prize Winner Daniel Yergin – March 10
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Click here for, inter alia, book reviews from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post

Reference Materials - “Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Prof. Steven Pinker – Feb 10
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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.”

Discussion Outline - “Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Prof. Steven Pinker – Feb 10

Original Proposal - “Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Prof. Steven Pinker – Feb 10

Participant Comments - “Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Prof. Steven Pinker – Feb 10

Meeting Report – Civilization: The West and the Rest by Prof. Niall Ferguson – Jan 13

Discussion Outline – Civilization: The West and the Rest by Prof. Niall Ferguson – Jan 13

Original Proposal – Civilization: The West and the Rest by Prof. Niall Ferguson – Jan 13

Participant Comments – Civilization: The West and the Rest by Prof. Niall Ferguson – Jan 13

Reference Materials – Civilization: The West and the Rest by Prof. Niall Ferguson – Jan 13
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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?"

Discussion Outline - Great Society: A New History by Amity Shlaes - Dec 9

Original Proposal - Great Society: A New History by Amity Shlaes - Dec 9

Reference Materials - Great Society: A New History by Amity Shlaes - Dec 9

Discussion Outline – “The Square and The Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook” by Prof. Niall Ferguson – Nov 11

Original Proposal – “The Square and The Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook” by Prof. Niall Ferguson – Nov 11

Participant Comments – “The Square and The Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook” by Prof. Niall Ferguson – Nov 11

Reference Materials – “The Square and The Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook” by Prof. Niall Ferguson – Nov 11

Discussion Outline – The Human Network: How Your Social Position Determines Your Power, Beliefs and Behaviors By Stanford U. Prof Matthew Jackson – Oct 14

Original Proposal – The Human Network: How Your Social Position Determines Your Power, Beliefs and Behaviors By Stanford U. Prof Matthew Jackson – Oct 14

Participant Comments – The Human Network: How Your Social Position Determines Your Power, Beliefs and Behaviors By Stanford U. Prof Matthew Jackson – Oct 14

Reference Materials – The Human Network: How Your Social Position Determines Your Power, Beliefs and Behaviors By Stanford U. Prof Matthew Jackson – Oct 14

Discussion Outline - The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King by Prof. Peniel Joseph - Sep 9

Original Proposal - The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King by Prof. Peniel Joseph - Sep 9

Participant Comments - The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King by Prof. Peniel Joseph - Sep 9

Reference Materials - The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King by Prof. Peniel Joseph - Sep 9

Discussion Outline – "Tightrope: Americans Reaching For Hope" by Pulitzer-Prize Winners Sheryl WuDunn and Husband, NY Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof – Aug 12

Original Proposal – "Tightrope: Americans Reaching For Hope" by Pulitzer-Prize Winners Sheryl WuDunn and Husband, NY Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof – Aug 12

Participant Comments – "Tightrope: Americans Reaching For Hope" by Pulitzer-Prize Winners Sheryl WuDunn and Husband, NY Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof – Aug 12

Reference Materials – "Tightrope: Americans Reaching For Hope" by Pulitzer-Prize Winners Sheryl WuDunn and Husband, NY Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof – Aug 12
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Please click here for book reviews by The New York Times, The Washington Post and The National Review.

Discussion Outline – “The Age of Addiction” by Prof. David Courtwright – July 8

Participant Comments – “The Age of Addiction: How Bad Habits Became Big Business” by Prof. David Courtwright – July 8

Original Proposal – “The Age of Addiction: How Bad Habits Became Big Business” by Prof. David Courtwright – July 8

Reference Materials – “The Age of Addiction: How Bad Habits Became Big Business” by Prof. David Courtwright – July 8
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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.

6/3/2020: CALL TO ACTION – ONLY 10 MINUTES NEEDED FOR YOU TO PARTICIPATE – “SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION” E-MAIL CAMPAIGN TO ADDRESS THE ROOT CAUSE OF RACISM (VS. ONLY A MERE SYMPTOM) – AMERICA’S PERMANENT 30% UNDER-CASTE

Discussion Outline – 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

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
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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]

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
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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]

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
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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.

Mail Campaign to ABC’s The View – Money in Politics – March 18

Discussion Outline – Money in Politics – March 18
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Or in other words, "The Best Government Money Can Buy"!!!

Participant Comments - Money in Politics: Michael Bloomberg & Tom Steyer, et al. - March 18

Original Proposal - Money in Politics: Michael Bloomberg & Tom Steyer, et al. - March 18

Meeting WED Evening Feb 19 – Proposed E-mail Campaign Re “Hunger in America” – Your Opportunity To Strike A Blow For BASIC HUMAN DECENCY

Feb 19 Meeting Report – Proposed E-mail Campaign Re “Hunger in America”

Participant Comments – Utah Taxing Groceries of Our Neighbors Living on Less Than $2.00/Day – Feb 19

Original Proposal – Utah Taxing Groceries of Our Neighbors Living on Less Than $2.00/Day – Feb 19

Reference Materials – Utah Taxing Groceries of Our Neighbors Living on Less Than $2.00/Day – Feb 19

CALL TO ACTION – ONLY 5 MINUTES NEEDED FOR YOU TO PARTICIPATE – “SIX-DEGREES-OF-SEPARATION” E-MAIL CAMPAIGN TO SOLVE THE PALESTINIAN ISSUE (AND AVOID “THE TWILIGHT OF THE HUMANS” - Jan 15

Suggested Discussion Outline – “REPRISE: A Marshall-Type Plan For Palestinians” – Jan 15
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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.

Original Proposal – “REPRISE: A Marshall-Type Plan For Palestinians” – Jan 15

Participant Comments – “REPRISE: A Marshall-Type Plan For Palestinians” – Jan 15
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*****
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.

Reference Materials – “REPRISE: A Marshall-Type Plan For Palestinians” – Jan 15

CALL TO ACTION – “SIX-DEGREES-OF-SEPARATION” E-MAIL CAMPAIGN TO SAVE THE U.S. GOVERNMENT $86 BILLION/YEAR BY ADOPTING MEDICARE-FOR-ALL – (only 5 minutes needed to participate)

Discussion Outline – “The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Care And How To Fix It” by Johns Hopkins Surgeon and Prof. of Health Policy Marty Markary – Dec 11

Participant Comments – “The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Care And How To Fix It” by Johns Hopkins Surgeon and Prof. of Health Policy Marty Markary – Dec 11

Original Proposal – “The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Care And How To Fix It” by Johns Hopkins Surgeon and Prof. of Health Policy Marty Markary – Dec 11

Reference Materials – “The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Care And How To Fix It” by Johns Hopkins Surgeon and Prof. of Health Policy Marty Markary – Dec 11

CALL TO ACTION – “SIX-DEGREES-OF-SEPARATION” E-MAIL CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT POSSIBLE GLOBAL-WARMING SOLUTION (HYDROGEN EXTRACTION) FROM BEING KILLED!!! – (only 5 minutes needed to participate)

Discussion Outline - Possible Global Warming Solution (Hydrogen Extraction) In Danger Of Being Killed!!! - Nov 13

Participant Comments - Possible Global Warming Solution (Hydrogen Extraction) In Danger Of Being Killed!!! - Nov 13

Reference Materials - Possible Global Warming Solution (Hydrogen Extraction) In Danger Of Being Killed!!! - Nov 13

Suggested Discussion Outline - “Tech Titans Of China: How China’s Tech Sector Is Challenging The World By Innovating Faster, Working Harder and Going Global by Rebecca A. Fannin – Oct 16

Original Proposal - “Tech Titans Of China: How China’s Tech Sector Is Challenging The World By Innovating Faster, Working Harder and Going Global by Rebecca A. Fannin – Oct 16

Participant Comments - “Tech Titans Of China: How China’s Tech Sector Is Challenging The World By Innovating Faster, Working Harder and Going Global by Rebecca A. Fannin - Oct 16

Reference Materials - “Tech Titans Of China: How China’s Tech Sector Is Challenging The World By Innovating Faster, Working Harder and Going Global by Rebecca A. Fannin - Oct 16

CALL TO ACTION – Six-Degrees-Of-Separation-Email-Campaign – A Suggestion To President Trump Re How To Support the United Nations 19-year Campaign Against “Trafficking In Persons, Especially Women and Children” – only 5 minutes needed to participate

Suggested Discussion Outline - Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery - Sep 18

Original Proposal – Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery – Sep 18
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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.]
.

Participant Comments – Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery – Sep 18

Reference Materials – Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery – Sep 18
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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”!!!
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Suggested Discussion Outline – Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson – July 31
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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.]

Original Proposal – Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson – July 31

Participant Comments – Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson – July 31

Reference Materials – Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson – July 31

Suggested Discussion Outline -- "The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics” -- June 13

Original Proposal -- "The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics” -- June 13

Short Quiz -- "The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics” -- June 13

Reference Materials -- "The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics” -- June 13
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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.”

The Quartet – Three E-mail Campaigns “Approved” – May 16
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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.

Suggested Discussion Outline - "The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789" by Prof. Joseph J. Ellis – May 16

Original Proposal - "The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789" by Prof. Joseph J. Ellis – May 16

Reference Materials – "The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789" by Prof. Joseph J. Ellis – May 16
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Click here for, inter alia, the texts of U.S. Supreme Court opinions referenced in the Short Quizzes posted in the “Participant Comments” section.

Participant Comments – "The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789" by Prof. Joseph J. Ellis – May 16
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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

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
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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.

Original Proposal - Our Damaged Democracy: We The People Must Act by Joseph Califano Jr. - April 11

CALL TO ACTION – “SIX-DEGREES-OF-SEPARATION” E-MAIL CAMPAIGN TO HOLD CHINA RESPONSIBLE FOR NORTH KOREAN ACTIONS (only 5 minutes needed to participate)

Suggested Discussion Outline - “American Tianxia: Chinese Money, American Power and the End of History” by Prof. Salvatore Babones - March 14
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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.

Original Proposal - “American Tianxia: Chinese Money, American Power and the End of History” by Prof. Salvatore Babones - March 14

Participant Comments - “American Tianxia: Chinese Money, American Power and the End of History” by Prof. Salvatore Babones - March 14

Reference Materials - “American Tianxia: Chinese Money, American Power and the End of History” by Prof. Salvatore Babones - March 14
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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.

Suggested Discussion Outline - “$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America” - Feb 7

Original Proposal - “$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America” - Feb 7

Participant Comments - “$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America” - Feb 7

Reference Materials - “$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America” - Feb 7
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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.]

Meeting Cancellation - The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue Collar Conservatism - Jan 10
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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.]

Original Proposal - The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue Collar Conservatism - Jan 10
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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.

Reference Materials - The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue Collar Conservatism - Jan 10
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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.

Suggested Discussion Outline - Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now by Ayaan Hirsi Ali - Dec 13

Original Proposal - Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now by Ayaan Hirsi Ali - Dec 13
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************
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]

Participant Comments - Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now by Ayaan Hirsi Ali - Dec 13

Reference Materials - Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now by Ayaan Hirsi Ali - Dec 13
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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.

Suggested Discussion Outline - Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning by the American Right: A Journey to the Heart of Our Political Divide - Nov 8

Original Proposal - Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning by the American Right: A Journey to the Heart of Our Political Divide - Nov 8

Participant Comments - Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning by the American Right: A Journey to the Heart of Our Political Divide - Nov 8

Reference Materials - Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning by the American Right: A Journey to the Heart of Our Political Divide - Nov 8

Suggested Discussion Outline - A Fine Mess: A Global Quest for a Simpler, Fairer, and More Efficient Tax System by T.R. Reid – Oct 4

Original Proposal - A Fine Mess: A Global Quest for a Simpler, Fairer, and More Efficient Tax System by T.R. Reid – Oct 4

Participant Comments - A Fine Mess: A Global Quest for a Simpler, Fairer, and More Efficient Tax System by T.R. Reid – Oct 4

Reference Materials - A Fine Mess: A Global Quest for a Simpler, Fairer, and More Efficient Tax System by T.R. Reid – Oct 4

Suggested Discussion Outline - The War On Cops: How the New Attack on Law & Order Makes Everyone Less Safe by Heather MacDonald - Sep 6

Original Proposal - The War On Cops: How the New Attack on Law & Order Makes Everyone Less Safe by Heather MacDonald - Sep 6
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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.]

Participant Comments - The War On Cops: How the New Attack on Law & Order Makes Everyone Less Safe by Heather MacDonald - Sep 6
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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.]

Reference Materials - The War On Cops: How the New Attack on Law & Order Makes Everyone Less Safe by Heather MacDonald - Sep 6
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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."

Meeting Cancellation - American Amnesia: How The War On American Government Led Us To Forget What Made America Prosper – For Aug 9

Original Proposal - American Amnesia: How The War On American Government Led Us To Forget What Made America Prosper – For Aug 9

Reference Materials - American Amnesia: How The War On American Government Led Us To Forget What Made America Prosper – For Aug 9

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)
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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

Original Proposal - An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back by Elisabeth Rosenthal – For July 12

Suggested Discussion Outline - An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back by Elisabeth Rosenthal – For July 12
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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.
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40.6% – Sub-Total
19.5% - Percentage of economy’s total healthcare costs financed by reduced employer taxes
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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”???

Participant Comments - An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back by Elisabeth Rosenthal – For July 12

Reference Materials - An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back by Elisabeth Rosenthal – For July 12

Suggested Discussion Outline - How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything by Rosa Brooks – June 7

Original Proposal - How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything by Rosa Brooks – June 7

Participant Comments - How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything by Rosa Brooks – June 7

Reference Materials - How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything by Rosa Brooks – June 7

Discussion Outline – Authoritarian Rule by Our Intelligence Services – May 10

Participant Comments – Authoritarian Rule by Our Intelligence Services – May 10
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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

Reference Materials – Authoritarian Rule by Our Intelligence Services – May 10
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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.

April 12 Meeting Cancellation
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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

Original Proposal - Thank You For Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide To Thriving in an Age of Accelerations – For April 12th

Reference Materials - Thank You For Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide To Thriving in an Age of Accelerations – For April 12th

Participant Comments - Thank You For Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide To Thriving in an Age of Accelerations – For April 12th
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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

Discussion Outline – Killing Millions of Sesame Street Miss Piggy’s For The Human Organs – March 8