frankilin roosevelt

It's not about being liberal or conservative anymore y'all. That is a hype offered by the fascist whores who want to confuse the people with lies while they turn this country into an aristocratic police state. Some people will say anything to attain power and money. There is no such thing as the Liberal Media, but the Corporate media is very real.


Check out my old  Voice of the People page.


Gino Napoli
San Francisco, California
High School Math Teacher

jonsdarc@mindspring.com




Loyalty without truth
is a trail to tyranny.

a middle-aged
George Washington



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Thursday, 19 January 2017 at 1h 42m 1s

The recent west coast weather


Notice the counter-clockwise spinning system over the Pacific ocean between Hawaii and Washington State. The South part of the tail carries all the water. This is partly due to the spinning of the Earth towards the East which induces orthogonal rotational weather systems (orthogonal here means "perpendicular to the surface of the Earth"). The thing is that there are competing spins that meteorologists understand as "High" pressure versus "Low" pressure systems. Low Pressure is due to occupancy of air by water molecules which drops the air due to the weight, inducing the spin cycle. A high pressure has less water occupancy, and might be very dry, which induces moisture to "rush" into the high pressure pocket.

As the Earth spins, Low pressure systems get created in reaction to the spinning of the Earth, which thereby induces reactions from High pressure areas. The interactions between these two regions of air mass largely dictates the seasonal weather patterns over the globe, but there are other factors, such as upper atmosphere pattern (sometimes called the "Jet Stream"), geographical topography (such as Mountain ranges), and even sunspots.

During the past few years of drought here on the West coast, a High pressure system over Northern California and the Pacific ocean a thousand miles off the Oregon Coast blocked the spinning Low weather systems and sent them into Washington State, Oregon, and Canada. In January 2015 California had summer weather conditions in January, and San Francisco had no rain at all during January for the first time in recorded history. This was wierd (see below) because January is the middle of the central distribution of recorded data and is typically the month when rain occurs more often.

Here is the Monthly Precipitation for various Bay Area locales:



[SOURCE: Chelsea Harvey | Business Insider | 30 January 2015]


Monday, 16 January 2017 at 17h 55m 22s

The Poor economic environment for young people

Yves Smith has a good article on the economic hardship of young adults.


...young adults had a good run in Reagan years before the nasty hangover of the 1990-1991 recession kicked in. From Fortune, summarizing a report by a group called the Young Invincibles, using Fed data:

The report found that millennials—15 to 34-year-olds in 2013—were worth roughly half as much as the boomer generation and are earning about 20% less in comparison to young adults in 1989. While millennials earned $40,581 on average in 2013, members of the boomer generation earned $50,910 annually in 1989.

Meanwhile, young adults with debt and a degree in 2013 earned roughly the same as those who had no degree at all in 1989: $50,000.

The lower number on the paycheck has also materialized in the form of a lower net worth. While Millennials are worth about $10,900, the Boomers were worth $25,035 at the same age.The lower number on the paycheck has also materialized in the form of a lower net worth. While Millennials are worth about $10,900, the Boomers were worth $25,035 at the same age.

...needless to say, one of the factors driving the lackluster post 2007 results is the lousy quality of jobs. 94% of the new jobs created in the Obama era were part-time or temporary.

The lack of a steady job makes it hard to save for a down payment and hard to have enough in the way of steady earnings to qualify for a mortgage. And in our society, where the property rights of tenants are generally poor (unlike some other societies) and landlords can and do raise rents aggressively, owning real estate historically was the way that the middle class accumulated wealth for retirement. The 30 year mortgage matched the typical productive earning years of the (male) head of the household. When he retired, he would own his house rent free and face much lower costs, or could move into a smaller home and free up equity. Housing was a tax-advantaged forced savings vehicle; the traditional model provided a wealth buffer for retirees even when real estate appreciated only at its long-term historical level of a mere 0.5% real price growth per year.

The resolution of the crisis again turned the old model on its ear. Housing before the crisis was at strained valuations in relationship to average incomes and rentals. Yet the priority after the crisis was to restore home prices to their former levels. Now in fact, outcomes have varied considerably, with the top 10% communities that have done well in the “recovery” seeing turbo charged home price gains (which in New York, San Francisco, and increasingly other major cities have been amplified by Russian and Chinese flight capital).



Sunday, 15 January 2017 at 17h 7m 54s

This is a good idea

Digby recently put out a post about how it's important to keep a weekly list of events during authoritarian crises so as to not forget how far things evolve, and not become defeated by moving goal posts.

She came up with 36 for week 9, and has lists for the other 8 weeks to boot. Kick ass.

  1. The Office of Government Ethics director publicly lamented, "we seem to have lost contact with the Trump-Pence transition since the election."
  2. Three vendors have placed liens on the Trump hotel in DC for unpaid bills of over $5 million, in total.
  3. The OGE similarly said they had not completed ethics reviews of Trump's cabinet nominees. Leader McConnell said the Democrats need to "grow up" on Trump's desire for speedy confirmations.
  4. Sean Hannity endorsed a tweet which said "Make Russia Great Again" with the word, "Amen." Hannity later deleted his tweet.
  5. Meryl Streep used her Golden Globes lifetime of notable work speech to eloquently attack Trump, without mentioning his name.
  6. Trump responded via a tweet that Streep is an "over-rated" actress, and denied he had mocked a disabled reporter.
  7. Trump took credit for a Fiat Chrysler plant and jobs in MI and OH. Fiat Chrysler responded that Trump had nothing to do with it.
  8. Trump appointed Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, to a top WH post, possibly violating the 1967 federal anti-nepotism statute.
  9. Trump told the NYT that all the dress shops in DC are sold out for his inauguration. This was a lie.
  10. Trump team dismissed the National Nuclear Security Administration and his deputy, responsible for maintaining our nuclear arsenal, as of January 20. Trump also dismissed the commanding general of the DC national guard.
  11. Cory Booker became the first US Senator to speak out against a fellow sitting senator at a confirmation hearing (Sessions for AG).
  12. CNN reported a bombshell - Intelligence chiefs had briefed Trump that Russia had gathered information to blackmail him (the dossier).
  13. Same day, BuzzFeed published contents of the dossier, which apparently had been in the hands of the FBI and some in the media since the summer. Contents included the infamous golden shower.
  14. Trump denied having been briefed, and said the contents of the dossier were confirmed by intelligence to be fake. DNI Clapper issued a public statement indicating the dossier's contents are still being verified (not fake), and media reported that Comey met with Trump one-on-one to review the dossier the prior Friday.
  15. Trump held his first press conference since July. Trump packed the room with paid employees, who applauded him, and jeered at reporters.
  16. At presser, Trump said he had no plans to release his tax returns, or resolve conflicts of interest, saying, "I have no-conflict situation because I'm president."
  17. Trump bullied reporters at two news outlets, calling them "fake news," and used other news outlets as evidence.
  18. The director of the OGE publicly blasted Trump's non-plan for dealing with conflicts of interest. Next day, Rep Jason Chaffetz threatened to investigate the OGE.
  19. Next day, while meeting with CEO of AT&T at Trump Tower (AT&T needs approval for their merger with Time Warner, parent company of CNN) Trump tweeted CNN is "FAKE NEWS" and tanking.
  20. Rep Barbara Lee said she would not attend Trump's inauguration. During the week, the list grew to 6 members of Congress.
  21. Trump encouraged his followers in a tweet to "buy L.L. Bean," in violation of a WH policy prohibiting the endorsement of products.
  22. The Justice Department inspector general opened an investigation into allegations of misconduct by the FBI and Comey, leading up to the election.
  23. C-Span's online broadcast was interrupted by Kremlin-backed broadcaster RT, while Rep Maxine Waters was speaking. Waters has said she will not meet with Trump. The broadcast was also interrupted that morning when a Senator discussed Russian hacking.
  24. WAPO reported that Michael Flynn, Trump's NSA, spoke to Russia's envoy on Dec 29th, the day Obama announced sanctions on Russia. Trump team initially denied this, then later, said they spoke only once that day. Reuters reports they spoke 5 times that day.
  25. Trump continued to deny Russian hacking, and to use quotes around Intelligence in his tweets.
  26. Trump appointed Rudy Giuliani to a cybersecurity role - albeit though a private company.
  27. Trump appointed a sixth Goldman Sachs (past or present) employees to a major role in his administration.
  28. After Congress was briefed by Intelligence chiefs, Rep John Lewis said, "I don't see Trump as a legitimate president."
  29. Next morning, Trump tweeted a disparaging attack on Lewis, on MLK weekend, saying he was all talk.
  30. Democrats in Congress were furious with FBI director Comey's unwillingness to answer their questions and fully brief them.
  31. UK media broke that the former agent who gathered the info in the dossier, had shared his findings with the FBI, starting in the summer, and had become concerned that a cabal within the FBI was compromised and attempting to cover-up information.
  32. The Senate announced hearings on possible Russia-Trump ties, and said subpoenas would be used if necessary.
  33. The FEC sent Trump a letter listing 247 pages of illegal contributions to his campaign.
  34. In the wake of the Trump dossier becoming public, Russia's cybersecurity head is out of a job.
  35. Human Rights Watch issued it's annual report of threats to human rights around the world. For the first time in 27 years, the US is listed as a top threat because of the rise of Trump.
  36. A Quinnipiac poll showed Trump's favorability ratings continuing to slide to historic lows for modern day presidents: only 37% of Americans view Trump favorably.

Past weeks:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8


Friday, 13 January 2017 at 4h 27m 27s

One of my favorites

Disappointed

I wrote this almost 10 years ago. I still cry around the 5:35 ish mark. I'm beginning to think this song meets the criteria of magnum opus (10 years and still tears, right?) One of my personal favorite compositions.

Good Lord if I ever actually recorded all my compositions. Easily two hundred.


Friday, 13 January 2017 at 4h 28m 28s

Seesaw by Kowalski



I still dig this song, and video.


Friday, 13 January 2017 at 1h 55m 59s

Those credible stories about a Russian Dossier

[SOURCE: Paul Wood | BBC News |11 January 2017 ]
[SOURCE: Scott Shane | New York Times | 11 January 2017]

hat tip to Echidne of the Snakes.

The Obama "birther" story had a shelf life into his second term, with Trump stroking the flames from day one. This story however concerns various sources which all point to Russia having blackmail tapes and video on Donald Trump from not one but two incidents involving Russian hookers. And then Trump accuses CNN of being a "fake" news pusher because he was upset that CNN was the first major television news outlet to break the story. He refuses to take a question from the CNN reporter, but then takes a question from the well-known fake news pusher Breitbart. Now I am not a fan of CNN. I call them the "Corporate News Network" but publishing fluff stories is not the same thing as false. Ignoring stories that affect the connected rich and corporations, or putting a certain paradigmatic slant on whatever news story they present is not the same thing as fake.

That's not what Breitbart does. Breitbart publishes actual fake stories. Promotes them even. Breitbart regularly allows politically contrived videos to be shown which give such a skewed perspective that it is beyond a shift based on ideological preferences (like CNN) slicing speeches and video in a way that portrays events in a false manner.

The corporate media may do a poor, incomplete job on reporting about matters that affect the coin-counters in corporatocracy, but they don't publish fake stories unless they are planted by political operatives and get snookered. "Fakebook" and Breitbart actually enable and sometimes originate fake news to pollute the minds of the weak and ignorant. There are people who are paid to produce daily memes and content on Facebook. The corporate media however is more sophisticated. It does the job by making the perspective sound reasonable, by using selected facts to make an argument.

So when Trump calls the Corporate News Network "Fake News" ... Me thinks you protest too much, kind sir.

If people talk shit about me that I know is not true, I laugh. I could give a shit less. If people wanna listen to liars, that's their choice. True friends will see your heart. When you get upset about other people talking shit, it's because there is some element of truth in what people are saying.


Thursday, 12 January 2017 at 2h 58m 5s

New Poem

I write a new poem today. Oh joy

I call it ... Hypocrisy.


It’s team A versus team B versus teams C and D and maybe even E and then of course there is always team I don’t give a fuck about this team bullshit can you just leave me alone and let me live my damn life without all this pressure and fucking pretense about TEAM.

Yes yea I know I know there ain’t no “I” in TEAM but that’s like saying no cat will eat out of a dog’s bowl or all the stars in heaven can never be seen as once.

Yea duh no shit mother fucker everyone realizes the letter “I” is nowhere to be found in the four letters that constitute the word “TEAM”.

Are you implying something about my personal character when you bring this shit up during the most odd instances. Me pointing at inconsistency You saying how I am insensitive. Me saying that your words are inaccurate You saying that I don’t appreciate you. Me saying that you are full of shit. You you say that I have no respect.

Look man if I call you out on your bullshit that has nothing to do with whether I give a fuck or care the fact that I bother means by default that I care so don’t belittle the genuine perspective and honest logical argument with some disclaimer or denial that resides within your own obvious weakness your own obvious insecurity.

When the emperor wears no clothes you can either cheer or snicker or ignore or distract but you can never deny the truth in the nakedness of hypocrisy because it will always be there for all to see.



Thursday, 12 January 2017 at 2h 28m 0s

Oh by the way ...

This is how these fucking people operate ...




LAUREN WINDSOR (narrator): Convicted criminal and right-wing con artist James O'keefe and his cohorts in the Trump Foundation-funded Project Veritas are at it again; this time, infiltrating progressive groups in an attempt to create a storyline smearing progressives by promising to fund money for violent schemes to unsuspecting advocates. But this time the tables were turned. We received a tip on suspicious behavior and immediately recognized O'Keefe's malicious handiwork. We partnered with Ryan Clayton of Americans Take Action and launched a counter-sting.

~hat tip to crooks and liars.


Saturday, 7 January 2017 at 2h 26m 24s

Two days later

Two days later, the weather North of Hawaii, spun by the Hawaiian Pineapple express, sends California a whole lotta wet.



And it's looking like another 7 straight days of wonderful wet weather. That's why they call this the Pineapple Express. Notice the group of clouds Northeast of Hawaii, that's 4 or 5 days from now weather. The strong band you see about 1000 miles east of Hawaii is going to spin everything just north of Hawaii over into California, and then crash into California. The whole process can take 10 days once it gets established over the Pacific waters just East of Hawaii.



Now just in case you didn't see the expected inches of rainfall in the graphic above. Adding Saturday and Sunday alone, you get 3.5 inches of rain. The rest of the week looks to spill out another 2 plus inches of rain. That's 5.5 in one week in a part of the world that averages 23.6 per YEAR !!! Which is almost 25% of the yearly total in just 7 days, 1.9% of the year.

Here is the windmap from earth.nullschool.net/.




Friday, 6 January 2017 at 2h 59m 1s

You go Obama

Honestly, Obama is surprising me about both his recent actions and his post-Presidential attempts to get involved in the various state anti-democratic actions, in particular "Gerry-Mandering" voting districts. Which is older than the KKK by the way -- hey that rhymes :-). All the way since BEFORE the America revolt against Britain in the 1770 to 1780 time frame, as far back at the later 1600's in fact.

Obama's 9 year Attorney General, Eric Holder -- who could not hold Wall Street financiers accountable for a single offence -- has been recently hired by California Jerry Brown to represent the state in any and all probable law suits the state takes against the incoming Federal administration. This is the same guy who made a big to-do against various California pot medical dispensaries -- but unable to prosecute a single Wall Street or big-bank criminal -- during Obama's first term. Nevertheless, I look at his with an open mind, because I trust Jerry Brown.

Boy am I so glad to be a Californian at this point in American history.

Full disclosure. I have met and have spoken with governor Jerry Brown's brother infrequently. He is a law professor at USF. Interesting person and mind. The entire family, all the way back to the father, ex-governor Edmund "Pat" Brown from 1959 to 1967. Responsible for the state water project, "Pat" Brown is the reason why California is great today.

Even though I am usually skeptical of Wikipedia, Wikipedia is fair on this matter.


Opposition to the State Water Project was immediate, especially with Sacramento River Delta users worrying about saltwater intrusion which had already been a concern without factoring in redirection of outward freshwater flow. Residents of the Bay Area and elsewhere in Northern California were concerned about the increase in water draw the South might demand as populations expanded. While Southern support for the project was clear, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California worried that the project did not ensure permanent rights to Northern water. This lead the legislature to amend the plan, prohibiting the state's southern water rights from being rescinded, clearing any remaining reservations from the state's southern water authorities.

Governor Brown was a staunch supporter of the plan, energetically opposing critics and seeking solutions. He lobbied Congress to exempt California from the 160 acre rule, lauding the benefit of employment and progress to the state's northern and southern residents, calling for an end to the north-south rivalry. Brown also reduced his introductory bond issuance from $11 billion to $1.75 billion, beginning a television campaign to appeal to residents. Governor Brown insisted on the Burns-Porter Act which sent the bond issue to a referendum; the 1960 vote saw Butte County as the sole Northern California county not voting against the measure. However, the growth in Southern California's population lead to the plan's adoption.


[SOURCE: Wikipedia]




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