 Kathy is traveling and was concerned that she was not going to be able to send her list of readings on time because of poor internet connections. She is on the Camino de Santiago. We asked her what she was up to on her trip and here is Kathy's response: "I am working 15 days in the albergue de peregrinos de Zamora, with the organization Hospitaleros Voluntarios, which provides staff for albergues [hostels] that operate on donations only. We are supposed to help the peregrinos [pilgrims] on their route, by providing a bed, information, support etc. We check in the pilgrims and give them a room, answer questions about the town and tomorrow’s route, make breakfast the next day, then clean the house and wash sheets. I’m done on May 1. It’s an interesting variation on the Camino—instead of walking along and seeing the whole route, you stay in one place and see all the people passing on their way to Santiago. "Here’s a fun fact: 3 days ago there was a peregrino from France who said he had lived in New York years ago and worked for the UN. Later that night he came up to make a phone call at the front door (the albergue has thick stone walls and is built down the hill, poor phone coverage inside) and my compañera [co-worker] overheard him asking to 'speak to Kofi Annan, please.' It turns out they used to play tennis together. (My compañera talked to the peregrino the next morning.) Anyway, that’s what I’ve been doing... see you all soon."  STOP, LOOK, LISTEN! by Kathy Sherretts Here are a few of the things I have managed to read this week, whenever the internet connection is working. —Kathy Sherretts Article: The Atlantic: Paul Ryan Personifies the Devil's Bargain the GOP Struck With Trump by Ronald Brownstein No one in the GOP was better equipped to resist Trump’s racially infused, insular nationalism, or to define a more inclusive competing vision for the party. Instead, Ryan chose to tolerate both Trump’s personal excesses and his racially polarizing words and deeds as the price worth paying to advance Ryan’s own priorities. Conversation: Slate: Being Black in Public by Jamelle Bouie , Gene Demby , Aisha Harris , and Tressie McMillan Cottom “White people’s definition of diverse is fundamentally different than ours, of course. Performative safe diversity that maintains majority culture is exactly what Starbucks and places like Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall traffic in… It is their whole shtick, which is why they had to work hard and quick to get this narrative back on track.” Article: Grist: Deja Vu by Greta Jochem Haunted by the Ghost of EPAs Past… the agency itself may recover. When that happens, will there still be enough environment to protect?  For more ways to take action check out the action plan put together by PAGE (Progressive Action Global Exchange), and Americans of Conscience; read the featured action suggested by Indivisible; or watch the series Resistance School.
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 Thank you to all of you who showed up at the Merchant last Friday for voter registration & information!  STOP, LOOK, LISTEN! by Kathy Sherretts Look Who's Running All of you are probably more current with your news and political updates than I am right now—and more appalled as a result. Lots of women are appalled, and lots of those appalled women are running for office this year, in record-breaking numbers. Who is running for U.S. Representative in your district? Check out the candidates on the Ballotpedia website, and make sure you are registered to vote! —Kathy Sherretts Article: Associated Press: Trump’s company asked Panama president to help in hotel spat by Juan Zamorano and Stephen Braun Donald Trump’s company appealed directly to Panama’s president to intervene in its fight over control of a luxury hotel, even invoking a treaty between the two countries, in what ethics experts say was a blatant mingling of Trump’s business and government interests. Article: Mother Jones: Why the Scooter Libby case—and Trump's pardon—really, really matter by David Corn Few of us may remember the details of Scooter Libby’s offenses, which included false statements to FBI agents to thwart the investigation into the Bush White House’s role in the outing of CIA officer Valerie Plame. Libby was prosecuted by US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who had been appointed as special counsel in 2003 by deputy attorney general James Comey. Article: Washington Post: Justice Dept. to halt legal-advice program for immigrants in detention By Maria Sacchetti The Executive Office for Immigration Review launched its legal-aid program in 2003 to orient immigrants so that court proceedings would move more quickly. Podcast: Stuff You Missed in History: Elbridge Gerry’s Monstrous Salamander (34 min) The history and practical uses of gerrymandering, and the Vice President it was named after.  IT'S TAX TIME: HOLD YOUR MOC ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE TAX SCAM ON APRIL 17. Use Tax Day as an opportunity to remind your Republican Member of Congress (and everyone else!) that their vote on the tax bill is a reason for their replacement in November. Share your photo to social media ##TrumpTaxScam ------------------------------------------------------- For more ways to take action check out the action plan put together by PAGE (Progressive Action Global Exchange), and Americans of Conscience;read the featured action suggested by Indivisible; or you can always watch the four sessions of the Fall 2017 series of the Resistance School, Leadership: Story, Structure, Strategy.  Friday, April 13, 2018 Voter Registration & Info at Merchant 6 to 8 pm Wondering how to register online and vote from abroad? Don't know when your state is holding primaries? Lost the address of your county registrar? Volunteers will be on hand to answer questions, provide forms, and help you connect with online resources. Friday, April 13 at Merchant Pub 6 to 8 pm (possibly longer if needed) Already registered? Stop in to show your support!  STOP, LOOK, LISTEN! by Kathy Sherretts Just the facts, Ma'am. A news site launched this week with the mission of delivering coverage of important news stories free of bias. Knowhere News uses artificial intelligence (AI) to choose a story based on what’s popular on the internet right now, then compiles its own “impartial” version of the story using the most basic facts from more than a thousand news sources. It also presents a left- and right-biased version of each piece, demonstrating how word selection and emphasis can produce biased reporting. The site is not searchable, probably because it is too new to have assembled much of an archive yet; and since it aggregates only trending stories, it won't help gauge the veracity of random weird factoids like Ryan Zinke's commemorative coins. As Kristin Houser writes in this Futurism article, "Impartiality is Knowhere’s selling point, so if you think it sounds like a site you want to visit, you’re probably someone who already values impartiality in news... You aren’t the problem." Kathy Sherretts Podcast: NPR: Madeleine Albright Warns: Don't Let Fascism Go 'Unnoticed Until It's Too Late' (36 min) The United States has traditionally been viewed as a nation that opposes authoritarianism and supports democratic principles and human rights, but that perception is changing. "What Trump is doing is making America seem like a victim. Everything is somebody else's fault: Countries are taking advantage of us, the Mexicans are sending drug dealers, countries are not paying their dues, the trading system is unfair..." Article: GQ Magazine: Patagonia vs. Donald Trump by Rosecrans Baldwin U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources sent out an e-mail with the subject line “Patagonia: don't buy it.” This wasn't just Trump whining on Twitter. The federal government basically called for the boycott of a privately held company—provoking a former director of the Office of Government Ethics to label the action “a bizarre and dangerous departure from civic norms.” Article: New York Times: ‘It Has to Be Perfect’: Putting Out a Yearbook After the Parkland Shooting by Patricia Mazzei and Sam Hodgson The Times followed the yearbook staff as they chose photographs, laid out pages, and made the painstaking decisions on how to best honor the students and staff who had died. The 452-page yearbook is scheduled to be published in May. Just for fun, a two-minute video from the WTF Department. As the person who posted this video commented: "Did they realize what they were singing?! Gail Farrell and Dick Dale sing Brewer and Shipley's song 'One Toke Over The Line,' on The Lawrence Welk Show. Lawrence describes this song as a "modern spiritual". Ummm, okay, I guess so, 'technically"'... For more ways to take action check out the action plan put together by PAGE (Progressive Action Global Exchange), and Americans of Conscience; read the last blog post by Indivisible; or you can always watch the four sessions of the Fall 2017 series of the Resistance School, Leadership: Story, Structure, Strategy.  |
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