just received an action-alert form e-mail from Richard Trumka that I was actually more or less entirely happy to read. This is a rare and pleasant occurrence.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/behold/2013/04/18/carli_davidson_shake_is_a_collection_of_images_of_dogs_shaking_photos.html You’re welcome.

This was thoughtful, and useful. (Via William Gillis.)

Your afternoon poetry reading. Written by Tommaso Sciortino, on the occasion of the New York Times “Next New World Conference” (June 20, 2013): – – – blockquote – – – Here’s how I envision it Everyone is gathered in the main conference room the lights darken a single spot light come up It’s Thomas Friedman wearing a steve jobs black turtleneck he smiles at the audience then the lights come up behind him revealing a group of 30 hand picked taxi drivers from all over the world they all smile lovingly at Friedman Queue: Final Countdown pyrotechnics flair at the footlights Friedman begins to fly he’s hooked up to fly wires he is joined by unmanned drones he frees Iraq then: open the floor to questions from the audience – – – /blockquote – – –

From kinkykinkshamer.tumblr.com, via Marja Erwin: “Count me in the less than 10% of Americans who oppose comprehensive background checks for gun purchases. And if you really are as liberal or left wing as you say you are, you should oppose them too. “Why? Well, for one thing, they would not have caught everyone who committed a mass shooting. For another, what are the two groups they would disarm? Ex-convicts and the ‘mentally ill.’ In other words, two marginalized groups. The first group, ex-convicts, are disproportionately poor, disproportionately people of color, disproportionately LGBT, and disproportionately people with disabilities. Also, a huge number of people who are sent to prison, including people convicted as “felons” are there for completely non-violent crimes. Excuse me for not wanting to disarm members of oppressed groups who haven’t ever done anything violent. The other group, the ‘mentally ill’? First off, it’s a pretty broad category. Second, it’s a group that already sees their privacy rights and other civil liberties severely undermined. Furthermore, ‘The absolute risk of violence among the mentally ill as a group is very small… only a small proportion of the violence in our society can be attributed to persons who are mentally ill (Mulvey, 1994)’ and ‘People with psychiatric disabilities are far more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violent crime (Appleby, et al., 2001). People with severe mental illnesses, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or psychosis, are 2 ½ times more likely to be attacked, raped or mugged than the general population (Hiday, et al.,1999).’”

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/20/living/give-grandma-hug-child/index.html I am glad to see that this is getting attention in mainstream outlets.

just watched the 1966 Czechoslovakian animated short “adaptation” of The Hobbit. (Produced solely in order to keep ahold of the IP at the end of a contract term.) And I can definitely say, well, that occurred.

MARKETS NOT CAPITALISM recently spotted in the Netherlands, with a new cover

99 years ago today.

99 years ago today.