Riding to the Wreck

The Intercept on the FBI's Powers

"One of the documents contains an alarming observation about the nation’s police forces, even as perceived by the FBI. Officials of the bureau were so concerned that many of these police forces are linked to, at times even populated by, overt white nationalists and white supremacists, that they have deemed it necessary to take that into account in crafting policies for sharing information with them."

"now the groups most loyal to Trump are those that possess a state monopoly over the use of force"

The Immigration Ban is a Headfake

"It is a much bigger deal that the DHS felt they could ignore a federal court than that Trump signed an EO blocking green card holders in the first place. It is a much bigger deal that Trump removed a permanent military presence from the NSC than that he issued a temporary stay on immigration."

The best theory for why Trump tells such obvious lies - Vox

The best theory for why Trump tells such obvious lies - Vox:

"Objectively empowering Trump while signaling a lack of loyalty to him is a dangerous game."

You got that right. I am amazed at the smug self-assurance of Members of Congress who seem to think they can use Trump to their advantage, and still reign him in whenever they want.

"Trump continues to staff his White House with hardcore Ryan critics. When his own position is more secure, he could easily move to depose Ryan at some future time."

IFTF: It Doesn't Have to Happen Here: Saving Our Democracy

It's only 0635 MST and my brain is already full for the day. I'll have to come back to this summary of a recent "convening" at the Institute for the Future. The meeting appears to have identified several problems arising from social media and current journalism practices, and to have produced surprisingly (to me) concrete ways of addressing those problems. IFTF: It Doesn't Have to Happen Here: Saving Our Democracy:

"As a rule, journalists are not accustomed to fighting back against threats in a unified way. Story exclusivity is important to an individual journalist’s livelihood, and, as a group, they’ve had little reason to share information with competing journalists."

"Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are de-facto publishers, but they don’t want to be. Editorial curation is expensive...What’s needed, said Aviv Ovadya of Media Window, is a layer that displays credibility scores for online news."

"Current funding models for journalism consider readers to be eyeballs for advertisers, and so stories are designed to maximize clicks... novelist William Gibson’s 2002 description of the typical media consumer as a “vicious, lazy, profoundly ignorant, perpetually hungry organism… that can only express its mute extremes of murderous rage and infantile desire by changing the channels on a universal remote. Or by voting in presidential elections.”"

Oops, they just described me. It's hard enough to read and excerpt passages of interest from online news, let alone re-state it or create a summary analysis. For example, consider this post :)

"But, said David Bornstein, a New York Times columnist and co-founder of the Solutions Journalism Network, stories can be written that create a sense of outrage and a sense of self-efficacy. The secret is to stop writing ”negative” or “positive” stories, and instead write specifically about how problems are being solved, which has the effect of engaging people."

Scottish Government Increases Emission Reduction Targets To 66% By 2032 | CleanTechnica

I do wish the U.S. had gotten out in front of this in the early 1990s. Scotland is showing there is a market for energy efficiency and for renewable energy generation. But never mind the lamentations. I don't know Scotland's starting line, in terms of per capita CO2 emissions, but to have already reduced emissions by 42% from 1990 levels is really impressive. Scottish Government Increases Emission Reduction Targets To 66% By 2032 | CleanTechnica:

"Scotland's renewable energy expertise is so well-honed at home that it is now being sought after around the world, and as of December, Scottish renewable energy businesses were involved in projects across more than 40 countries."

Swamp Things

In which Corey Lewandowski demonstrates that "drain the swamp" means "replace its current occupants." He uses typical authoritarian tactics, treating any question as an attack. Corey Lewandowski: my new firm does not violate pledge to stamp out lobbying | US news | The Guardian:

"You want to accuse me and make disparaging comments about me and my family, that's where I draw the line," he added, although nothing had been said in the interview with respect to his family. "If you want to make gross accusations about the president of the United States and saying he's going to be influenced by money, that's where I draw the line."

Advice for anti-Trump protesters - The Washington Post

Anne Applebaum spends part of her time in Poland, where she has observed what has and hasn't worked for protesters against a new authoritarian government. It's well worth reading: Advice from Europe for anti-Trump protesters - The Washington Post:

"...targeted, well-organized, broadly based single-issue protest had far more impact than the general marches, and the government withdrew the law."

"Five Democratic senators could do more to block extremist judges or damaging policies than 5 million — or even 50 million — people chanting slogans."

I take this to mean that our members of Congress need more feedback from us. We need to contact them, with either criticism or praise, depending on how they act on issues that concern us. Their job really is to represent us. They can't do that if we don't tell them what we want. Mea Culpa We're all products of our times. In my world it has been disreputable, uncivil even, to engage in politics. Vote every couple of years, but don't do more than that. Don't feed the bureaucratic beast. Don't help pave the road to hell: you may think you know how to make the world better, but you're probably wrong. Cynical disengagement is far wiser. I believe this worldview has enough adherents to have nearly cost us our civil liberties. It is well past time for a different approach.

A => B

A: N.S.A. Gets More Latitude to Share Intercepted Communications B: Signal

This Is Why You Don't Kiss The Ring

This summary of our current situation is well written. This Is Why You Don't Kiss The Ring:

"The press and the Congress are the only two institutions standing between a dangerous man and total power. They must both realize this is not the time to salute and grovel... This is the time for them to rise to the occasion. And the occasion is a fight for civil society."

Some of the week's news has been encouraging. For a few moments, including the exchange between Sen. Marco Rubio and Rex Tillerson, it looked as though the thug-elect might not be able to steam-roller the Republicans in Congress. But there has been plenty of bad news, and the "press conference" was just one instance. Lies, bullshit and bullying from start to finish show that Tramp and his gang have no respect for democratic rule. "This is not the time to salute and grovel..." The Republicans still seem to think they can limit Il Donaldo while pushing through their own sweeping changes. Their confidence is misplaced. They should never forget what he did to them during the primaries. [Edit: To expand on that last point: Stop Underestimating Donald Trump.]

Juxtapose