Our blog poet frequently favors with rhyme:
Privatize the planet
Privatize the planet
Plunder it for gain
Light the fire and fan it
Mine the golden vein
Privatize the water
Sell it to the poor
Privatize your daughter
Sell her as a whore
Privatize the wildlife
Charge a viewing fee
Like a Wall Street low life
That is what you’ll be
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Schools will be fracked,
will be squeezed until
profits ooze out,
but can the imaginations
of childhood be wrung dry
for corporate greed?
from “No Child Race the Top”
Amen
Good job. You’ve attacked the core of our problem, the concept of property.
Property, which had nothing, nothing at all, with theft of the Commons by the few.
Well, you stopped me dead there. I still cling to the idea that private property can co-exist with a very expansive concept of public goods. Granted, if you just project it forward untrammeled, binary-style, it heads where we’re going. But hey, the Nordics have handle on a compromise, no?
You bring up a concept I’ve been struggling with lately. Right now–I’m still working this out–I think the concept of property concerns me less than the idea that democratically-elected representatives value property over individual rights, public welfare, and democratic-republican (writ small) governance. Romney’s infamous dictum that “corporations are people too” comes to mind as an obvious example.
Of course, the idea of a single tax on privately held land is a relic of a past time, when economies were primarily agricultural, but the notion of rent on private use of the Commons, broadly conceived as including land and all other natural resources used privately, that’s an idea worth running with. See this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgism
And, of course, the corporations are people bs didn’t originate with Romney. See the Supreme Court case Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819).
George Bush Sr., on his sole authority, made it possible for corporations to freaking OWN parts of the human genome!!!! James Watson, who, ofc, with Yalow and Crick, discovered the structure of DNA, resigned as head of the Human Genome Project in protest, as well he should have.
On your last paragraph, that decision was overturned by a unanimous Supreme Court decision written by, get this, Clarence Thomas. That’s how unbelievably obvious this issue is. A small congressional contingent led by Thom Tillis and Chris Coons was working on legislation to vote the Court’s decision and, now, it seems is being revived to slip into a bill during the lame duck session. I’m working on a short piece on this. It will hinder medical research and make a few people very rich.
Thanks, SomeDAM: you’ve done it again! Your Pulitzer Prize is forthcoming.
I hereby award SomeDAM, in the name and vernacular of our outgoing Glorious Leader Who Shines More Orange than the Sun, the Noble Prize in Fitature.
A worthy recipient!
And if you have any problems with any of this, the Trump Maldaministration Department of “Justice” is rushing to finalize, before Jan. 20, it’s new rule for using firing squads and electrocutions for federal executions.
I wish I were making this up. These people are insane.
It just shows how seriously twisted Trump and his ilk are.
Yikes. its, ofc.
Well, considering that it45 takes some (actually, a great deal of…most of the) responsibility in the deaths of 262+K Americans by covid-19…
Well, he doesn’t take responsibility, of course, though he is responsible. But I knew what you meant. Wouldn’t it be nice if WordPress allowed us to edit these posts!!! Yes. What a legacy! How the Orange One will be remembered in the history books. Impeachment. Pandemic. Refusal to concede. First ex-President to be imprisoned.
To John–way up there–who had the pleasure of not meeting Eric & Don Jr. &, so, not “getting arrested”–how about a joke in tune w/all the bar ones that have been previously made, about a priest,etc., & have a good one evoked by that image:
Eric & Don Jr. walk into a bar…”
Bob, my 1:11 AM comment was meant to go right under yours anout new rules for fed. executions (as related to it45) & responsibility (not inferring it takes responsibility, but we all know it is responsible). What crimes have those on death row performed?
(Only a rhetorical ?, to make a connection, here.)
Poetry that should be posted on the walls of AEI, Fordham and ALEC.
A Poetry tattoo for Hoover Institute members.
Charles Koch’s epithet.
Without being a fan of Elon Musk, one can observe a risk taker unlike Bill Gates, the usurper of government functions and authority.
And speaking of epithets, here’s one for when the time comes:
Here lies Donald Trump.
But that’s nothing new.
Oops. I meant epitaphs, ofc. Oh these covfefes!!!
What fur?
Did I write that?
It’s all a blur
Like hair of rat
It’s all wet fur
And speaking of the old twat fur, Trump’s hair.
SDP:
Kill the greedy cur and
Give ’em what fur
King Donald the Wurst
Dumb King Trump
sat on his rump,
eating cheeseburgers all day.
He called for his Miller
and brownshirted killers
and hypocrite fundies to pray.
He called for his Barr
to make him a czar
and all rule of law to allay.
And to meet his requirement
that it trash the environment,
he neutered the EPA.
“I’ve switched out democracy
for sweet kakistrocrasy,
and had but to bellow and bray,
I’ve drawn to my Trump
many millions of chumps
and given dear Vlad complete sway.
“It’s time now to call it a day,
Though I’m still president anyway.”
Then he farted and stood
and called it all good,
and went to a golf course to play.
Oops. Kakistocrasy. Ofc. Maybe this is also contagious.
Good one, Bob. I like the conceptual consistency: kakistocracy followed by fart.
In general, Ginny, I’m not fond of scatological humor. But for some reason, this seemed precisely the correct symbol for the entire Trump presidency, the succinct encapsulation of all that he has done.
Of course, I’ve revised the darned thing. The final version is here: https://bobshepherdonline.wordpress.com/2020/11/25/king-donald-the-wurst/
I think it much improved.
I seriously hope that the Biden administration understands that privatization is a way for the already wealthy to make money off the common good while it further undermines the middle and working class.
SomeDAM and Bob, you are masters of irony, sarcasm and word play.
I wish I could boast
of a funnier post
than SomeDAM’s,
but I’d need a toke
to equal this bloke,
this SomeDAM.
For none can cast shade
wield more surely his blade,
than SomeDAM.
For those who flim-flam
and perpetrate scams,
he’ll pummel and ram.
A mere shadow, I am,
of this SomeDAM.
For no one can skewer
the filth from the sewers
more abjectly deftly
than SomeDAM.
I’m SomeDAM
SomeDAM I am
I do not like the tests and VAM
I do not like, SomeDAM I am
Would you like them with a Trump?
Would you like them in a dump?
Would you like them with a Barr?
Would you like them in a car?
Would you like them with DeVos?
Would you like them with a Hoss?
No , not with Trump
And not in Dump
And not with Barr
Or in a car
Of with DeVos
Or with a Hoss
And neither here nor even there
Or with the orange Donald’s hair
I do not like the tests and VAM
I do not like, SomeDAM I am
Freaking genius. Lord, I love this! Thanks, SomeDAM!
Time to re-institute some legal processes:
https://www.snopes.com/news/2016/06/23/donald-trump-rape-lawsuit/
You Are SomeDAM — We’re All SomeDAM Too
I’m David! Who are you?
Are you – David – too?
Then there’s a pair of us!
Don’t tell! they’d advertise – you know!
How dreary – to be – Goliath!
How piggish – how Effete –
To tell one’s name – the livelong year –
To an admiring Wall Street
Oh, LeftCoast, that’s just beautiful!!!! Much praise!!!
One of the finest yet of the poems of the Resistance!
“make money off the common good” — you mean “suckle at the public trough until the common good is utterly depleted” – refined that forya.
I’ll join: Privatize the air, charge a breathing fee. Add a surcharge when they need to take a pee.
They took all the trees and put ’em in a tree museum.
Then charged all the people a dollar and a half just to see ’em.
–Joni Mitchell, “Big Yellow Taxi,” 1970
interesting you thought of trees after “need to take a pee.”
Funny, Darrell!!!
A prophet. Read “The Understory” last year.
Thanks for pointing me to this novel. It looks really interesting. Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Seneca Nations, says, and I’m quoting here from memory, so it may not be exact: A tree grows in the forest, and certain plants are attracted to that tree, and they grow up around it, and they have trade relations with the tree and with the other plants, and some of those plants are very strong medicine. The animals know which are strong medicine. That’s how we learned, by watching the animals. Well, when you cut down the tree, you are not just cutting down a tree. You are cutting down a community. And if you sow a monoculture of trees, you are not replanting a community, you’re just replanting trees, and it’s a terrible, terrible loss. Oh, there will be hell to pay for some of what is going on now. And that lesson comes hard. You might not know this now, but you will.
Lyons, on The Understory.
Trees “after ‘need to take a pee.'” You’ve just ruined the concept and idea of sap for the rest of my life.
This would be tragic, GregB.
You must read it, Bob. But warning—judging from goodreads.com reviews, only a tree-lover can get through that novel. For me it was a frolic, plus I learned plenty, but then: I wanted to. Full disclosure: as a kid walking down the dirt-road hill to school, I always stopped to pray to a ginormous single elm dominating an open field, whom I named Melissa. Years later as a water-colorist, my only interest is in depicting the movement of foliage in sunlight. I have just two large trees on my property, but have planted minor shrubs and trees and let them become huge and sheltering, unlike my suburban neighbors. I was probably a Druid in another life.
OK. Now I MUST read it. And what a beautiful post, Ginny! “depicting the movement of foliage in sunlight”–now there’s a goal worth pursuing!
Well, I’ve done a lot of sailing. You might call me a salty dog.
privatization, in one form or another, is really the only hope for fish stocks around the world. We can not keep allowing free access to those fish.
In one form or another. Are you talking about outright sale of fishing rights in perpetuity? The revocable sale (on the basis of overfishing) of catch shares in perpetuity? I see the argument–the tragedy of the commons one. But isn’t the real issue that the quotas, and the catch shares based on them, are just too d**ned high, making this a matter of better, stricter regulation less compromised by industry money, lobbyists, and the revolving door?
And how can it really be called privatization if an external entity sets quotas in the form of catch shares given or sold to Joe the fisherman? This isn’t an area I know much about.
And what keep Joe the fisherman from saying, “Screw it. I’m sixty. I’m going to cheat and overfish my share while I can?” except for a regulatory apparatus? If it were fully privatized, could one really, on this basis, expect that Joe would always have a conservation ethic?
keep allowing free access to those fish
Isn’t most fishing done, now, under quotas divvied out as catch shares? And isn’t the real issue, year after year after year, that despite the dwindling of fish stocks, quotas continue to be set too high?
Bob,
No, the open ocean is not privatized so all can freely catch the fish there. But even if there were quotas you would be against that establishment of property rights, would you not? The fish in the ocean should be like the air we breath, right?
No, this isn’t so. The world’s oceans are regulated by intergovernmental organizations called Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) that set quotas. But the quotas are too high. Besides, most fishing is not deep water (pelagic). Fish populations tend to be large in territorial waters.
Fishing should be regulated and by stricter quotas than those that now exist. So in answer to your question–like the air we breathe–no, except to the extent that we must regulate pollution of that air by private interests.
The tragedy of the Commons didn’t happen in the past because if someone tried to overuse the Commons, the other owners of it would gather around his house with pitchforks and scythes. So, let me get this right, TE. Your solution to the dramatic depletion of fish stocks (most commercially species will be in collapse by mid-century) is to privatize it all so that 55-year-old Joe, owner of GiantMaw Industries, whose “fiduciary duty” is, he believes, to deliver big dividends to his shareholders this quarter and whose golden retirement package depends on doing that will, instead, take the long view and preserve his company’s lordly demesne for the benefit of the company and of the world in the long term? Now, that’s downright hilarious.
Daniel Pauley, director of the Fisheries Centre at the University of British Columbia, wants a complete ban on deep-ocean fishing in non-territorial waters to give populations a chance to revive, as well as far stricter quotas. Otherwise, there aren’t going to be any fish to fish. Collapse.
You have made, TE, ofc, a false dilemma argument. But I’ve come to expect those from proponents of “free” markets. (Free, that is, to those with enough stolen property to enable them to participate in them.)
cx: CEO, not owner, of GiantMaw Industries
Bob,
You might want to think about the details of how a binding quota system would work. How would you decide who would get to fish and how much they could catch? Would the same people get a quota next season? Could they sell their quota to another boat for the season? Could they sell their quota to another boat In perpetuity and stop fishing?
Pretty soon it starts looking like the quota allocation is a type of property right given to the fisherman.
You raise superb questions, TE. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
Why privatization, as opposed to govt regulation? Isn’t the former devoted to short-term profits, which leads to over-fishing? The latter at least conceptually (i.e., policy not bought out by private interests) might be framed to protect long-term public interst?
bethree5,
Government regulation is the assertion of property rights over the fish in the ocean. The government denies people the right to use the wildlife as they see fit.
I know this is picky and likely unfair, but you know I obsess about language. Why not eliminate the term “government regulation” and replace it with public policy? Government regulation, it seems to me, implies dicta from above. Public policy, on the other hand, implies collective, democratic decision making. They are the same thing, but can be perceived very differently. Kind of like the intended epithet of “government schools” as compared to the accurate, neutral, “public schools.”
I agree, GregB: “public policy” sounds better to my ear too.
Good call, Greg.
But seriously folks-and that includes Bob and SDP:
Trump King Troll
Was a miserable soul.
Yes, a wretched ole soul was he.
He sat eating tripe, on his gold toilet bowl,
And he called for complete loyalty.
Each flunky had a knee pad,
But the best belonged to only three.
So, tweedle Pence and Barr and Rudy
Would kneel down to see who was best
At kissing the fat ass of Donald T.
(Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.)
Who would have thought that the administration of Donald Trump would have inspired the birth of a whole new genre of English poetry!
In my work, I must say, dear,
culture has reached its nadir.
Yikes. Meter violation!
Could my verse be worse?
No, I must say, dear,
for it speaks of a culture
that has reached its nadir.
Dear Mr. Miller
Thank you for your interest in converting your freelance position in the employ of His Satanic Majesty into a permanent one, now that term of our subcontractor, Ding Dong Donald Inc., is reaching its end. We regret to inform you that there are depths to which even we won’t sink. Good luck in your continued search. It will be interesting to see where you fall.
Sincerely,
Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies
Oh, and say hi to Mike for me!
Bob, you are having too much fun!
Sorry, I’m a bit giddy with joy.
Bob, this post may be too late to see, but I believe the title of “Lord of the Flies (or just one fly)” goes to (drum roll)—Mike Dense!
Thus my concluding line, “Say hi to Mike for me.”
Eric and Donald Trump Jr. were recently at a bar right down the road from me. Yeah, here in he wilds of Upstate New York. (Don owns land not far from here…People magazine did a piece about it back in July.)
I was just talking with my wife about what we would do if we ran into one of the Trumps down at the Circle E Diner. Would I flip out? What would I say? (I’d have to say SOMETHING.)
If only Bob or SomeDAM or Diane or Lloyd were here and faced a similar moment…
Words would not fail you, I am sure.
(Your suggestions are most welcome.)
BTW sad to say our town has become somewhat of COVID hotspot as of late. I would not be surprised if Don Jr. picked up COVID-19 while he was here. Not a mask to be seen in that picture of one of our locals schmoozing with the Trump spawn at our cozy, local tavern.
So happy I was NOT there.
Getting arrested and getting COVID…a bad way to spend the evening.
If you meet Eric and Junior, just wave goodbye. From a distance.
Yikes, John–you and yours, stay safe!!!
Hey John I checked you out online when you said you were from upstate-NY, hail fellow well met! Looks like you are between Roscoe & Liberty, somewhere near Fishs Eddy, that is God’s country: beautiful! I was raised in a hamlet outside Ithaca NY, so pass through that area every time I drive to visit relatives. Sorry to hear of covid spike “requiring” testing level unfunded by anybody to keep schools open.
If it makes you feel any better, down here in my chi-chi NJ district there are all kinds of free tests available, but hisch has barely managed a month of in-person hybrid, what w/ clusters of positive cases among teens starting in summer [postponing in-person start], then two rounds of cases cropping up (hisch sports plus off-campus gatherings)—they closed again until after Tgvg break… !! And this in a town that is fairly observant of safety protocols… Stay safe & good luck!
Thanks for the encouragement.
Western NY (esp. Buffalo) is having a tougher time than here and the district where I teach (20 miles closer to NYC from my house) has been much better off -knock on wood.
This fall, it’s been the opposite of last spring when the city was getting hit much, much harder.
I have to say the students I teach have been great through it all.
Ithaca is a wonderful college town. It’s a beautiful area up there.
Have a great Thanksgiving!
John, if you’ve got to say SOMETHING, my I recommend this book, a serious dictionary written by an editor of the Oxford dictionary: https://smile.amazon.com/F-Word-Jesse-Sheidlower/dp/0195393112/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+%22f%22+word+jesse&qid=1606372995&sr=8-1
My favorite word, one that I learned here (and I thought I knew ’em all)? The Texas-based mawdicker. What a wonderful word! That would surely fluster Idiot Jr. and Idiot Jr. adjacent. But never use the original correct term! For Miles Davis, it was the highest compliment he could give. As it is for me, intended for my best friends who know me well.
…may I recommend…
And I meant to comment on you and Bethree: Damn Yankees! 😂
So, Greg. Homework assignment: Draw a Venn diagram illustrating the relations of the sets “Mawdickers” and “Trump Supporters.” you will need jeweler’s glasses or a printer’s loop or some other magnifying implement to complete this.
And thanks for the reading recommendation!
I looked this book up. It’s the kind of thing students would love.
Back when I was teaching sociology, my wife loaned me her copy of “The Dictionary of Obscenity, Taboo and Euphemism”. I brought it in to show the 12th graders.
Many years later I ran into one of the students -who is now a vice president at one of the local banks. (I didn’t recognize him at first.) Then, he started talking about the obscenity book, ha, ha.
It seemed to be the thing he remembered most about my class.
Hey, have a great one!
So, who do you think Trump will pardon? Himself, ofc. Probably a blanket pardon for Princess Sparkle and Slender Man. For Hannibal Lector? For his entire clown car posse? (Notice that I didn’t call them the Insane Clown Car Posse, for I don’t want to incur the wrath of Dienne. But they are insane, and they are a clown car posse.)
Planetary Pardon
A planetary pardon
Is what the Donald needs
To keep at bay the warden
And cover up his deeds
His revenant deeds will come back to haunt him.
And millions with gather to cheer and to taunt him.
By the way, looks like AstraZeneca rolled out its vaccine the way Microsoft rolls out its software. Gates was involved. Forbes reports his personal stock as down $130 million today. Bill Gates doesn’t swing for the fences; he swings for his employees’ heads. The pressure to meet unrealistic goals produces shoddy work. It’s the Devalue Added Method.
Layman here trying to translate? I think I’m hearing you say Gates funded Astra Zeneca’s vaccine [true?], & his personal stock [what is that?] lost a bunch of value because it came in 30 pts behind the top 2 contenders’ % efficiency. Meanwhile the interesting Q: why did just under 3k of A-Z’s 10’s of 1000’s of subjects– the ones who ‘by mistake’ got a half-dose 1st go-round, then the full dose in a month– show up at 90% efficacy while the bulk showed 60%? Velly ineresting… sounds like they need to trial that ‘mistake’ on another huge bunch of subjects…
There were a lot of very questionable things that were done, cherry picking among them.
It was a hacked process and my guess is that there is probably a reason for the difference that has nothing to do with a half a dose somehow working better.
What they really need to do is follow a proper protocol, which they did not do the fjrst time around.
Luckily some people!e are paying attdntion and not simply giving them z pass.
https://www.wired.com/story/the-astrazeneca-covid-vaccine-data-isnt-up-to-snuff/
From the Wired piece
“Oxford-AstraZeneca reported only the results for certain subgroups of people within each one. (For perspective on this: The two subgroups chosen leave out perhaps half the people in the Brazilian trial.) Meanwhile, one of their key claims is that giving half a dose of the vaccine on the first injection, followed by a standard dose on the second one, led to better outcomes—but neither of these trials had been designed to test this hypothesis. In fact, it’s since emerged that the half-dose/full-dose option started out as a mistake, and one that was only caught when some people in the study didn’t have the usual high rate of adverse effects.”
In other words, they cherry picked the data, which renders any conclusions about efficacy null and void.
Sounds familiar.
Isn’t it obscene that some individuals in the United States can casually lay down sentences the contain phrases like
“New York, California, Arizona, and I have all. . . “?
Isn’t it obscene that some have so much money and so much of the power that money brings that they can so disproportionally affect public policy?
Make them pay their share based on awareness that their wealth comes not only from their personal innovations but also from appropriation of the value of labor of others. For example, don’t allow them both access to the American market (such access is arguably part of the Commons) AND the ability to operate offshore to avoid playing wealth and income taxes.
Corporate Socialism
Privatize the hamlet: let farms and smallbiz gain.
To all the town and cities with “Streets” that are called “Main”
Let biggest corporations pay taxes to the max:
Replenish public spaces and purchase us some Pax.
Insomnia reigns tonight (I’m still ticked off that I bought a turkey breast with legs, thighs and wing chopped off [I am so p’od with myself…I thought I had papal infallibility!) instead of a small turkey…will have to bring my reading glasses always from now on! Corporate socialism=actual communism, secret police included!. Will the cult of the Idiot discern? I’m betting no.
oh Greg, me too– insomnia that is, I finally cut the umbilical cord at 3:30. I figure it was good preparation for a Very Grumpy Thanksgiving, which I’m already celebrating [bitterly sardonic tone] with Grinchy Gusto. A week ago when we finally realized we couldn’t have our sons over, I announced to hubby we’d be having hot dogs for Thgvg dinner. He wondered what hot dog gravy would be like [don’t ask, I replied].
p.s. I relented: we’re having traditional TG dinners delivered from the local diner at noon– to be refrigerated & reheated while zooming w/boys. However I draw the line there.
By which I mean, e.g.: NO. Will not watch “happy” talking heads calling play-by-play of Macy’s float parade attended by no one: what are they thinking? Turn 5th Ave into a 6-mi long soup kitchen would be more appropriate. Need to televise? How about a still photo of Norman Rockwell’s TG dinner w/piped in “Night on Bald Mountain” for music?
I’m watching and the Macy’s parade is sadder than I could have imagined. No spectators, no families, no children.
To the Mighty Ravitch Nation
For whom her blog is our salvation:
Be safe and be well. Keep hope alive.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Hot dogs and cool cat gravy for Thanksgiving, speaking of which, we can give thanks that for all the sacrifices we make today, we will be better prepared when the next one of these pandemics rolls around 100 years from now..
Here’s to all the billionaires who profit from civilizations progress by filling in the next blank.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
happy xmas ahead