Chilling.
January 6th Short Documentary
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Monthly Archives: June 2021
How Hot Is It?
The chocolate covered raisins in the pantry have melted together. And after this morning’s 5-miler, I looked like I used to after playing summer pickup basketball in super muggy North Carolina gyms.
Then again, it’s not West Africa hot because there isn’t the humidity.
The Salish Sea has felt like a bath the last two nights, excepts for some cold pockets.
Maybe there is something to this climate change science. Another 12-14 hours to go.
Share And Share Alike?
A pressing question for PressingPause cyclists. Where do you stand on sharing bike lanes with pizza delivery robots?
Should I Sell My Prius?
A couple of things to consider. 1) I just bought it. 2) It’s sexy.
How To Avoid The Culture War Trap Around Critical Race Theory
Read Linda McClain’s and Robert Tsai’s essay of the same title.
Then visit the Educating for American Democracy website McClain and Tsai highlight and familiarize yourself with EAD’s report and roadmap:
“’Reflective patriotism’ is a model of civic education proposed by a new group called Educating for American Democracy, supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, and reflecting a collaboration of leading and ideologically diverse experts in civic education, history, and constitutional studies. Instead of viewing current social movements ominously as aiming to ‘destroy the Constitution,’ as anti-CRT ideologues have claimed, EAD sees evidence of such mobilization as warning signs for a political order that has fallen short of stated ideals. Recognizing that the U.S. ‘stands at a crossroads of peril and possibility,’ it calls for a ‘reflective patriotism’ that unites ‘love of country’ with ‘clear-eyed wisdom about our successes and failures in order to chart our path forward.’ It aims to educate young Americans ‘to participate in and sustain our constitutional democracy,’ and—echoing the Constitution’s preamble—to make our union ‘more perfect.’ It emphasizes that the constitutional order has become more democratic over time due to efforts by social movements—for example, the efforts of suffragists and civil rights activists to expand the right to vote.”
Thanks to EAD’s report and roadmap, my Multicultural Education students will become intimately familiar with the concept of reflective patriotism this fall. That’s the way forward.
What Have We Learned?
- A sentence I never thought I’d write. The Phoenix Suns are seven wins away from winning the NBA Championship.
- In the US Open, the 36 and 54 hole leaders are meaningless.
- Louis Oostuhizen is as down-to-earth and classy as they come.
- The Seattle Mariners own the Tampa Bay Rays.
- Minor sports have feelings too. US Track and Field and US Swimming deserve more and better coverage. Imagine swimming 1500 meters in 14:46. “Okay, we’re gonna do 15 100’s on the 59.” LOL.
- I did not qualify for the Olympics, but the next trials are only three years away.
Influencia
“Cristiano Ronaldo’s marketing power appeared to be on full display this week when his removal of two bottles of Coca-Cola from the podium at a press conference coincided with a $4 billion drop in the company’s market value.Before speaking to the media on Monday in Budapest a day before Portugal’s Euro 2020 opener against Hungary, the Juventus star moved the Coca-Cola bottles out of the frame and held up a bottle of water before saying, ‘Agua.’
Coca-Cola’s share price dropped from $56.10 to $55.22 soon after Ronaldo’s gesture, while the company’s market value dropped from from $242 billion to $238 billion. Coca-Cola is an official sponsor of the European Championship.”
Paragraph To Ponder—Self Delusion Edition
“Donald Trump is writing a book. And, as with all things Donald Trump does, he is already marketing it with a combination of hyperbole and outright lies. Although the former president has boasted that rights to a memoir about his political career—the ‘book of all books’—are being fought over by major publishers, and that he has already turned down ‘very substantial offers’ from ‘two of the biggest and most prestigious publishing houses,’ reporters have uncovered zero evidence to substantiate his claims. According to Politico, none of the editors and publishers contacted at the Big Five publishing houses—Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan Publishers, and Simon & Schuster—said they were aware of any such offer. One source was openly ‘skeptical’ of his claims. ‘He’s screwed over so many publishers that before he ran for president, none of the big 5 would work with [him] anymore,’ the source told Politico.”
I can hear him now, “I NEED you to find me 11,780 more readers!”
Postscript: Awkward.
APL Can’t Get No Satisfaction Either
What To Make Of The Secret IRS Files
A week ago, ProPublica, an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest showed how the wealthiest Americans pay little in income tax compared to their wealth in “The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax”.
Pro big business libertarians were outraged at ProPublica’s decision to release private tax information of people who, in their view, have contributed disproportionately to the public good.
The extremely well written report left many others shocked by the findings and gleeful that the billionaire class was exposed.
Long story short, most Americans pay 14% of their income in taxes, billionaires pay 3+% on average. That’s because we tax income and not wealth and billionaire’s wealth grows much, much faster than their income.
Everyone concedes that the highlighted billionaires haven’t done anything illegal, which leaves many wanting to make our tax system much more progressive.
A few thoughts:
- As long as we tax income and let wealth slide, the Great Tax Divide will only widen. At some point, billionaires’ physical safety may very well be threatened. It is in their self-interest that we have a more egalitarian society. Therefore, it is in their interest to pay more in taxes.
- We need to invest a whole lot more in the Internal Revenue Service. Specifically, we need more, better trained agents who understand of how the ultra-wealthy avoid taxes sometimes illegally. Right now the ultra-wealthy are emboldened by the ridiculously low rate at which they are audited.
- Conservatives often defend things like video surveillance by asking, “Well, what do you have to hide?” In that same spirit, when it comes to personal income taxes, maybe we should go the way of Norway.
- Debates about the ethics of ProPublica’s decision-making will continue especially since they’ve said this is just the first of several related reports. As will debates about the implications of the data and related policy questions.
Pressing Pause 