The Inaugural Address of the 45th President of the United StatesPost + Comments (288)
Two great philosophers for the next four years
Okay, now it’s real so let us rely on two great philospophers for the next four years:
And it looks like America agrees with Ron Burgundy
It has been 10 weeks since Donald Trump was elected president, and more Americans disapprove (48 percent) than approve (37 percent) of the way he has handled his presidential transition. They are split on his cabinet picks. Views divide heavily along party lines.
Just days before his inauguration, Donald Trump’s favorable rating (32 percent) is the lowest of any president-elect in CBS News polling going back to Ronald Reagan in 1981, when CBS News began taking this measure.
Well we’ll have to survive being “governed” by the Brietbart comment section so we can either laugh or cry while we bang our heads into our desks today.
Two great philosophers for the next four yearsPost + Comments (17)
Peaceful Assembly & Personal Security: Threepeat
I know a number of you all are planning to join one of the marches that will begin taking place between now through, and then after, the inauguration. So I wanted to re-up the post – again – for anyone that missed it the first and second time.
Everyone be safe out there!
(Originally posted on 18 December 2016)
Congress shall make no law… abridging…the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. — Amendment 1, Bill of Rights, US Constitution
One of our readers/commenters emailed me about a week ago and asked if I would put up a post about personal security for those going to peaceably assemble to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. I put a list together and ran it past a select group of our Balloon Juice legal eagles (those I’ve corresponded with before/have corresponded with me, so if you didn’t get asked, don’t be insulted I didn’t want to just impose on you with a cold request) – thank you all for getting back to me. Here’s my list of what I think anyone going to peacefully assemble should do to enhance their personal security.
- Go with a buddy, that way you have at least one person looking out for you/watching your back and vice versa.
- Carry cash and make sure to carry a valid picture ID!
- Bring a pocket flashlight.
- Get and wear a go pro that is automatically updating to the cloud.
- Bring a pocket charger for your cell phone and go pro regardless of whether it is supposed to be a long day.
- Make sure your personal electronic devices all have sufficient password protection and encryption on them. And have them set to upload to the cloud at a regular interval.
- Turn off fingerprint access to unlock your phone and delete your finger prints from the memory. Some jurisdictions allow law enforcement to compel you to unlock your phone if it has finger print based access. Or get a disposable phone just for this occasion.
- Turn off your phone and other personal electronic devices option to connect to known wifi as it can be used as a way to fail your encryption.
- Bring a bandana or neck gaiter and water so you can make a make shift gas mask in case things get out of hand and tear gas or pepper spray is deployed.
- Bring a bottle of saline eye rinse in case you need to rinse your eyes out if tear gas or pepper spray is deployed.
- Bring plenty of water and some snacks to make sure you’re properly hydrated and you’ve got enough fuel in your system to get through the day.
- Dress in layers so you are prepared for the weather and make sure you have good shoes/boots and a change of socks in case they should get wet. A set of silk base layer undersocks is a good idea regardless of the weather. They’ll help keep your feet warm or cool as needed and they’ll provide some protection in case your shoes/boots and socks get wet. And something to keep the back of your neck and your ears warm if you’re going to be someplace cold.
- Bring/wear a hat to keep the sun off your head or to keep it warm depending on the weather.
- Bring/wear eye protection. Specifically sunglasses that are impact rated. (You should be able to pick up military surplus ones pretty cheap).
- Sunscreen, skin moisturizer, and lip balm. Even if its cold you’ll need these.
- If you need to take regular/routine prescription medication: bring it in its original container, with the prescription details on the label. If its a gel based application and comes in a packet, make sure you’ve got a hard copy of the prescription with you.
- Be aware of your surroundings at all times. You don’t have to be paranoid, but have a sufficient level of situational awareness. If something looks and/or feels hinky or the hair on the back of your neck stands up, head on home or go get a drink or go back to your hotel. Know who and what is around you, keep your valuables in front pockets or in secure/securable purses/bags, and keep those where they can’t be easily snatched or accessed.
- Have a contact plan for both linking up and communicating in case one gets separated from anyone you’re with.
- Have a contact plan to stay in touch with someone who isn’t at the march, but knows that you’re there and a regular set of contact times.
- Have a lawyer you can contact if necessary and that your outside contact could contact if you don’t check in. Make sure you have all of your contact’s phone numbers memorized in case your phone is damaged or taken by law enforcement should the worst happen and you’re arrested.
- Bring a sharpie to take down badge numbers if necessary. And if necessary write them on your hand.
Should the worst happen and you get caught up in a peaceable assembly that suddenly turns not so peaceable:
- Do not resist law enforcement. Just do what they say, let your arms go limp, and do what you can to avoid a reflex response to resist – that can get you charged with assault on a law enforcement officer.
- Be respectful and polite when dealing with the authorities – law enforcement, the National Park Service, whoever.
- If you are arrested, ask for a lawyer and then shut up. Do not say anything else or answer any other questions until your lawyer arrives. In fact let the lawyer do the talking.
One last item: some of you probably carry a pocket knife or multitool everywhere. Or everywhere that you’re normally allowed. I would recommend not carrying anything on your possession that could be construed as a concealed weapon or even an openly carried one. Even if you’re in a state/jurisdiction that allows for concealed or open carry of knives and/or other weapons – don’t. Being part of a march or peaceful assembly that turns ugly is not a good time to attempt firearms (or knife) normalization.
Stay Frosty!
Peaceful Assembly & Personal Security: ThreepeatPost + Comments (13)
We The People
Eight years after artist Shepard Fairey created the iconic red and blue Barack Obama “Hope” poster, he and a team of artists have created a new series of public artworks for the inauguration. Named “We the People” after the first three words in the preamble to the Constitution, the series features Muslim-American, African-American, Native American, Latina, and Lesbian women.
“As artists, it is always important to create work with positive uplifting messages, but even more so during these divisive times,” photographer Ridwan Adhami told NBC News. “There is a need to balance all the negativity swirling around. We have a responsibility to the youth in our communities, we need to give them something to look up to that can hopefully inspire and encourage strength. That is what the ‘We The People’ campaign is all about, and I am proud and honored to be part of the movement.”
I believe (and will fight for) a better future. Here’s a hopey-changey open thread.
Excellent Read: “Back on the Mekong Delta… “
From the Washington Post:
CA MAU, Vietnam — It could have been 1969 again as Secretary of State John F. Kerry stood on the bow of the small boat chugging up the Bay Hap River on Saturday, the wind billowing his sleeves and his eyes darting left and right toward banks shrouded in dark foliage.
As a young Navy lieutenant, Kerry commanded a Swift boat along this stretch of churning brown waters in the middle of a free-fire zone. Here, he earned a Silver Star for his heroics when he leapt ashore after an ambush to pursue a fleeing Viet Cong with a grenade launcher and shot him dead.
Now, some 48 years later and with the rapid approach of sunset on a political career spanning almost four decades, Kerry was about to be yanked back to that time, and come face-to-face with a Viet Cong soldier who had taken part in the ambush.
Aides escorted Vo Ban Tam to greet Kerry on the dock, beside a row of blue tourist boats. Tam at 70 is three years younger than Kerry. He was Viet Cong in the communist stronghold of Ca Mau, one of the enemy lying in the tall grasses waiting to entrap unprotected, thin-skinned river patrol boats like Kerry’s.
Tam apparently had been tracked down by U.S. consulate officials and invited to meet the U.S. secretary of state he once tried to kill.
Speaking through a translator, Tam said that he had known the man whom Kerry had chased and killed in the firefight of Feb. 28, 1969.
His name was Ba Thanh, and he was 24 years old.
“He was a good soldier,” Tam told Kerry, explaining the training and skill required to handle an R-40 grenade launcher…
Kerry’s encounter with Tam was the emotional peak of his two-day stop in Vietnam on Kerry’s final trip as secretary of state. His office in Foggy Bottom is packed and ready to be shipped to Boston.
It is doubtful the longtime senator from Massachusetts will ever run for public office again, but he will continue to work on climate change and environmental issues, and he is particularly concerned about the effect of rising sea levels and hydroelectric dams on the rivers in the lower Mekong Delta. When he wasn’t looking at the riverbank for some familiar marker from long ago, he was engrossed in conversation with a local scientist who said the effect of rising salinity and dams upstream brought once-in-100-year drought last year and threatened livelihoods…
Excellent Read: “Back on the Mekong Delta… “Post + Comments (27)
A personal note on policy evaluation
I want to lay out one of my key heuristics for policy analysis and evaluation for the next four years. But first I need to go back a little in my life to two time periods.
1992 sucked for my family. I am one of five kids. My mom worked a retail job as she was mainly trying to get all of us going in the right direction while managing half a dozen minor chronic conditions between all of us. My dad was a union electrician. Construction is a pro-cyclical industry so when times were good, they were very good and when times are slow, they are really bad. The 80s were good as Boston boomed. The late 80s after the S&L crisis plus the overbuildout of Boston sucked. He was able to get the occasional side job and short term position as an electrician and had already started to work as a cabinet maker, a newspaper deliverer and half a dozen other side jobs and hustles to hold on. We were waiting for the Big Dig to really ramp up as that would clear a log jam on the job list at the union hall.
I remember crying in happiness one day when my parents decided to get me a treat of sweet canned corn instead of frozen corn. We had not had my favorite type of corn in so long as the extra thirty cents a pound was too much of a lift.
Now fast forward.
Mid-2008 my wife had gotten laid off as her organization got a new CEO who wanted to quickly leave their mark for decisiveness and wiped out several profitable but not exciting departments. She was pregnant with our daughter. I was working as a program evaluator for a behavioral health care coordination program. It was funded by a federal grant that was due to run out at the end of FY09. We were trying to transition our funding to local and foundation money. By mid-2009, my wife was working part time at a position far below her skill level, our daughter was happy making faces at her parents, and there was absolutely no local or foundation money as 51 mini-Hoovers were in effect for state level austerity. I got laid off. The next year I stayed home with our daughter as the combination of unemployment insurance and not paying for daycare that was the best solution possible.
Now fast forward.
The past six years have been great for my family. My career has taken off. My wife’s career has launched. We have two great kids. We have stability and we have a cushion. Yesterday the induction motor on the furnace failed after a good eighteen years of service. I was able to grumble and mumble as I wrote a check to the HVAC technician but writing that check had no impact on my family’s financial stability. We’re in good shape.
Some of this is a humble brag. But most of this is how my policy evaluation heuristic is formed. If a policy helps 2009 Me or 1992 Me out more than it helps present day me out, I’m most likely for it. If 2017 Me is advantaged over either 2009 or 1992 Me, I’m highly likely to be opposed to it.
Two Down, Four to Go
States, that is, on the way to DC (we’re staying in MD). Greetings from your Balloon Juice Women’s March road crew.
Nice weather so far. We’re behind the rain band that I hope will unleash torrents on the shitgibbon’s absurd combover and cause the makeup worn by the interchangeable statuesque females in his entourage to run down their faces in ugly black rivulets.
Valued commenter SectionH had a nice idea in the early morning thread: people who are attending a march offering to carry the names of friends who can’t. I’m carrying the name of every single one of you jackals, right here on my phone, whether you like it or not.
Open thread!