Republican atrocity of the day - New Mex. Guv vetoes all higher ed funding.

We all know that politics make strange bed fellows but never in my lifetime, have I seen the comfort level of many Republicans with the same racist, white nationalist affiliation knowledge we have of some of these Trump staffers, be so okay and comfortable with it all. At what point does your soul just shrivel and die? Before or after one receives the earmarks they need for their districts?

Republican atrocities of the day - Goodbye Meals on Wheels! Seeya Free School Lunches. You ain't efficient!

To attack free school lunches as "ineffective" is a marvel - a special kind - of evil.

To use people who pay no income taxes as examples of people objecting to spending their (non-existent) income tax dollar on the CPB or NEA requires an especially warped mind.

I realize that none of these projected cuts will go through - but as statement of philosophy, it is extraordinary coming from a sitting president.

have you got the reports of Tillerson threatening war with North Korea? From a couple of hours ago? All over our news, & BBC.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39297031

yes. it's tough over here with so many daily atrocities. which to focus on?

joanne said:

have you got the reports of Tillerson threatening war with North Korea? From a couple of hours ago? All over our news, & BBC.

www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39297031"> http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39297031

we'd call that 'shirtfronting' North Korea but really, it's just more bully-boy diplomacy. What with the mess created a week ago with Cambodia (which I didn't think we were calling Cambodia anymore anyway), I guess you can see why there's a sudden urgent need to build up your military spending and 'win wars'.

I'm also deeply concerned about the wisdom of slashing the subsidies for heating, etc - the impact of that and withdrawal of nutrition support programs will have on your national health bills simply can't be accurately estimated yet the people most affected are the elderly (a growing sector), the young (your future), your active workforce (now going to be isolated by extreme weather events, or forced to miss work so they can care for sick dependants)... The result of cuts in a budget levied by an administration touting "jobs and growth" even more loudly than our PM did. 

(It's 1:30am. I'm rambling. I have to sleep)

And Mick Mulvaney delivers a defense of the budget which could have come from 1984.

drummerboy said:

Republican atrocities of the day - Goodbye Meals on Wheels! Seeya Free School Lunches. You ain't efficient!

There are no words to describe the heartlessness and dishonesty of the Trump budget proposal. The depths they plumb are limitless. There is no bottom.



To attack free school lunches as "ineffective" is a marvel - a special kind - of evil.

To use people who pay no income taxes as examples of people objecting to spending their (non-existent) income tax dollar on the CPB or NEA requires an especially warped mind.

I realize that none of these projected cuts will go through - but as statement of philosophy, it is extraordinary coming from a sitting president.

His budget is a window to his soul. Even if he put MOW and school lunch on the block as a "bargaining tool", who plays around with and uses children and the elderly??

drummerboy said:

Republican atrocities of the day - Goodbye Meals on Wheels! Seeya Free School Lunches. You ain't efficient!

There are no words to describe the heartlessness and dishonesty of the Trump budget proposal. The depths they plumb are limitless. There is no bottom.



To attack free school lunches as "ineffective" is a marvel - a special kind - of evil.

To use people who pay no income taxes as examples of people objecting to spending their (non-existent) income tax dollar on the CPB or NEA requires an especially warped mind.

I realize that none of these projected cuts will go through - but as statement of philosophy, it is extraordinary coming from a sitting president.

tjohn said:

And Mick Mulvaney delivers a defense of the budget which could have come from 1984.

drummerboy said:

Republican atrocities of the day - Goodbye Meals on Wheels! Seeya Free School Lunches. You ain't efficient!

There are no words to describe the heartlessness and dishonesty of the Trump budget proposal. The depths they plumb are limitless. There is no bottom.



To attack free school lunches as "ineffective" is a marvel - a special kind - of evil.

To use people who pay no income taxes as examples of people objecting to spending their (non-existent) income tax dollar on the CPB or NEA requires an especially warped mind.

I realize that none of these projected cuts will go through - but as statement of philosophy, it is extraordinary coming from a sitting president.

You've got to be cruel to be kind.

In my 20's, I saw Meals on Wheels work magic. I was a volunteer for Mass. Association for the Blind and the lovely elderly woman I paired with was extremely social and energetic. She received nutritious meals daily from Meals on Wheels and the man who delivered it to her was so incredibly sweet and helpful. They'd chat and laugh and it was a long, long friendship she had with him and others who delivered to her.

As a research assistant at Boston University Medical Center, I traveled with my boss on home visits where he, a geriatric physician (not practicing, just research) visited many elderly patients. We would interview them, their caretakers and note their diet and surroundings. What struck me about these patients was that Meals on Wheels, our weekly visits and visits from community members, were the only social activity they received. Meals on Wheels is not just nutrition, but companionship. Many of these people, old and young, are shut ins and can't handle the outside world or are too frail / ill to be outdoors.

It's a wonderful, loving program that so many depend on. I hope that if we can as a community, donate to them to help sustain their outreach. It really is their life or death.

The Meals on Wheels issue appears to be more complicated than reported, and not nearly as heartless. Looks like the program is safe.

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2017/03/meals

Our media kinda sucks. But my bad for not looking into it more.

(just want to contrast Railway Ministry in India with the skinny Budget... different approach to PR and customer satisfaction, and the use of Twitter for positive results, I guess) 

www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-39288247"> http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-39288247

Donald Trump's declaration of war against humanity, delivered at the March 16, 2017 press conference by OMB Director Mike Mulvaney:

Regarding the question as to climate change, I think the President was
fairly straightforward -- we're not spending money on that anymore; we
consider that to be a waste of your money to go out and do that. So
that is a specific tie to his campaign.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/03/16/press-briefing-press-secretary-sean-spicer-3162017-25

Republicans are getting ready to eliminate any semblance of internet privacy

From the New York Times:

Republican senators moved Thursday to dismantle landmark internet privacy protections for consumers
in the first decisive strike against telecommunications and technology
regulations created during the Obama administration, and a harbinger of
further deregulation.

The measure passed in a 50-to-48 vote largely along party lines. The
House is expected to mirror the Senate’s action next week, followed by a
signature from President Trump.

The move means Verizon, Comcast or AT&T can continue tracking and sharing people’s browsing and app activity without permission,
and it alarmed consumer advocates and Democratic lawmakers. They warned
that broadband providers have the widest look into Americans’ online
habits, and that without the rules, the companies would have more power
to collect data on people and sell sensitive information.

oh, they're trying to do that here too (almost surreptiously) and I think I've read that the UK is also trying to introduce similar legislation. Could be some 5-Eyes stuff they're trying to broaden, plus hangovers from the TPP... shudder.

I try to discuss it with friends here and people wonder why I worry.

Very slight thread drift, for which I apologise. I can't remember in which thread we were discussion cuts to the Arts and PBS. I mentioned shortwave radios - here's a US listener to our shortwave service. A younger man, now having to say goodbye.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-25/saying-goodbye-to-radio-australia-after-37-years/8240296

Is someone (the ISPs) campaigning to have these regulations repealed? Or is this just another attempt to roll back Obama accomplishments out of pettiness and spite?

The measure just awaits Trump's signature at this point:

https://feedly.com/i/entry/0/iO3Q1eIXrMWRqTT9hdgijyLUs/MrL+S5UBaLKeOZk=_15b16ecc691:943b2b:e68c08d3

ways to thwart this:

link

I'm pretty sure the ISP's have lobbied for this. It's free money for them.

kthnry said:

Is someone (the ISPs) campaigning to have these regulations repealed? Or is this just another attempt to roll back Obama accomplishments out of pettiness and spite?

No, they don't want this - they don't have storage space for compliance nor do they have snooping capacity. (Many are already several years behind where they already apparently need to be for pre-passage levels of surveillance).

What's already required is onerous, time-consuming and confusing depending on who has asked for which level of information. The whole mess is ridiculous. The returns for what is demanded are apparently quite slim, which is why courts in other jurisdictions have refused to allow it.

If the ISP's don't want this, who's pushing it?

Storage is cheaper than dirt these days (and of course getting cheaper) and the "snooping" capacity is built in to their role as the internet access provider. They see literally everything we do, unless you take positive measures to prevent it, which pretty much no one does. The ISP's , btw, wouldn't have to store anything, as they could just sell the raw data to another company for processing.

Not following you.

joanne said:

No, they don't want this - they don't have storage space for compliance nor do they have snooping capacity. (Many are already several years behind where they already apparently need to be for pre-passage levels of surveillance).

What's already required is onerous, time-consuming and confusing depending on who has asked for which level of information. The whole mess is ridiculous. The returns for what is demanded are apparently quite slim, which is why courts in other jurisdictions have refused to allow it.

there's a theory that the real data that's gathered is more 'important' for so-called security purposes, and that the Five Eyes intelligence agencies are pushing for greater powers but using 'oh look, all this wonderful marketing info and rich social connections for historical research!' motivators.

Personally, I'm sceptical regardless of how and who does it. They can try to get info on me, but it won't help them, I've deliberately kept much of myself on a strictly personal (face to face) old-fashioned basis because I prefer it.

drummerboy said:

If the ISP's don't want this, who's pushing it?

The ISPs did as for this. They are the ones who know EVERYTHING we do and EVERYWHERE we go on the internet. They want to sell that.

http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/10/14881068/fcc-privacy-rules-fight-web-history-ads

There's a good column in today's NY Times. The result of this is that, under the rules, if you use your smartphone to make a telephone call to a car dealer, your provider can't sell that information to others who might want to send you car ads. But if you use that same smartphone to go to a dealer's website, they can sell that information.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/29/opinion/how-the-republicans-sold-your-privacy-to-internet-providers.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0

Of course, lots of information less benign than "I'm shopping for a car" is available to your internet service provider, and thus available for sale.

A whole lot of Republicans signed on to this. Among the co-sponsors was that phony Rand Paul, the "libertarian" hero.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/34/cosponsors

While some people are worried about conspiracy theories of government spying on all of us, Rand and the rest are happy to let commercial entities sell our private information to anyone who wants it.

at the same time, UK and Australia are widening the security provisions of their combined legislations covering access to data and mandatory storage for several years of all personal communications history by the carriers, ISPs and telcos; the access doesn't have to granted subject to a formal warrant or court, depending on the supposed nature of the "situation". There have been several articles for the last couple of months in the BBC, Guardian and Australian media media about this.

And the one strongest link is the Five Eyes alliance. Which neatly tied in with last week's London incident, a supposed ISIL threat in the southern Philippines that our Foreign Minister got carried away with, and the continuing discussions over security at your airports with travellers on mid-Eastern airlines.  (Why does my English spellcheck suddenly default to French misspellings on MOL only??)

I do not think enough attention has been paid to these Resolutions of Disapproval under the Congressional Review Act. The negative impact is, well, huge.

No only do these get rid of some pretty good regulations, since it is happening as a bill through this act this and future administrations are barred from issuing "substantially similar" regulations. So once Trump is gone an a Democrat is beck in the White House, Congressional action would be required to reinstate a similar regulation.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/27/trump-signs-four-bills-roll-back-obama-era-regulations/99690456/

yes, not enough attention is being paid to the substantive destruction Trump is committing. Everyone is chasing shiny objects.

ska said:

I do not think enough attention has been paid to these Resolutions of Disapproval under the Congressional Review Act. The negative impact is, well, huge.

No only do these get rid of some pretty good regulations, since it is happening as a bill through this act this and future administrations are barred from issuing "substantially similar" regulations. So once Trump is gone an a Democrat is beck in the White House, Congressional action would be required to reinstate a similar regulation.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/27/trump-signs-four-bills-roll-back-obama-era-regulations/99690456/

I wrote to my congressman to say the big companies don't need our help.

@drummerboy, do you work in or near a data center? Storage isn't dirt cheap. Price per byte is going down, but as we store more stuff and more kinds of stuff, the overall cost of storage is increasing pretty significantly.

I don't think so. You're basically trying to argue that the cost to buy storage to save browsing history (a highly compressible form of data) is so high as to not justify the economic gain of selling that data. If so, why are the ISP's fighting for this change?

A company like Comcast already spends tons of money to store their video streams - adding additional storage to store browsing history would be a minor additional cost - plus you can use lower end storage, as speed is not an issue here.

I'm not sure if your last sentence is referring to individual use or to corporate use - for the former, it's simply not true that costs are going up. At most it remains stable - you have to buy more storage, but it's cheaper per byte, so it evens out. An average user pays no more for storage than they did 5 years go. I would have to assume that the same holds for data center use - though infrastructure and data management costs have to be added in.

Tom_Reingold said:

I wrote to my congressman to say the big companies don't need our help.

@drummerboy, do you work in or near a data center? Storage isn't dirt cheap. Price per byte is going down, but as we store more stuff and more kinds of stuff, the overall cost of storage is increasing pretty significantly.

I'm not saying it's too much for ISPs. They'll buy as much storage as their incentives let them. If customer data becomes valuable, they'll save it and sell it.

I keep a lot of pictures and music on my computers. There are more pictures than before, so having more storage is justified. I didn't previously have music on my computers, so another justified purchase. And now videos are taking up space, but I try to limit them. And now that the stuff is more precious than before, I have backup hard drives and also cloud storage backups. And I'm about to start backing up cloud storage (where it holds primary copies of stuff) onto local storage. And so it goes.

And data center management of storage raises costs by several times. It's justified, but it's not cheap.

Today another "Resolution of Disapproval" passed Congress (with Pence breaking a tie in the Senate). This one overturns a rule implemented by the Obama Administration to prevent states from banning Planned Parenthood from receiving family planning money provided to the state by the federal government (which apparently at least 11 states are doing).

https://www.theatlantic.com/po...