August 6, 2020

Thank you. I've been tempted to get the audiobook, in spite of reading it already,

to hear her narrate it herself.

It is awfully well written and I absolutely believe she wrote it herself. She avoids the mistakes a lot of first-time authors make, and she knows how to conclude a paragraph powerfully, and to zone in on specific details while not getting bogged down in the peripheral or mundane. She has a sharp eye for what's important, excellent memory for particulars, and is honest when she can't recall something. It's an authentic and most valuable contribution to this genre.

I ordered a second copy because I want to re-read it and make some marks on the text, and I hate to mark up an "only copy."

I want to be able to lend it out to others as well.

August 5, 2020

Yes, exactly. There's another code too that also encompasses what is happening.

Did you know the USPS has its own Inspector General? I've been wondering if that individual should be contacted, or could be of any help?

USPS OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) audits the operations and evaluates the specific infrastructure of the Postal Service. The OIG also has the responsibility of protecting and maintaining the integrity of postal processes and personnel. To contact the OIG, please call 1-888-877-7644, email hotline@uspsoig.gov, visit USPS OIG Contact Form, or mail 1735 N Lynn Street, Arlington, VA 22209-2020.

https://www.prc.gov/consumer-assistance

I don't know anything about the process of contacting an Inspector General. It just seems like we have heard nothing about this, and that it could be of use.

August 5, 2020

Many people here have given up on getting tested. There was an article posted this morning,

but everyone has said the same thing for three weeks. Nobody wants to wait in 105 degree temperatures for six or eight hours to get tested (or turned away when they close or run out of tests). And there were reports of people in the Phoenix area coming the night before and camping out to get tested and still having to wait hours. And they know even if they get tested, it will take ten days to get the results.

My brother in law's mother has all the symptoms, and was just tested and they told her "ten days" for her results. (She's in her eighties, is in a long term health care facility and suffers from debilitating dementia and has other risk factors--still, ten days!)

August 5, 2020

I just found out the USPS has an Inspector General and here's the contact info

USPS OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) audits the operations and evaluates the specific infrastructure of the Postal Service. The OIG also has the responsibility of protecting and maintaining the integrity of postal processes and personnel. To contact the OIG, please call 1-888-877-7644, email hotline@uspsoig.gov, visit USPS OIG Contact Form, or mail 1735 N Lynn Street, Arlington, VA 22209-2020.

https://www.prc.gov/consumer-assistance

I'll write to him/her tomorrow. I don't know what else to do at this point. It's probably an exercise in futility, but I have to try to do something.

X-posted from another thread.

August 5, 2020

I just found out the USPS has an Inspector General and here's the contact info

USPS OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) audits the operations and evaluates the specific infrastructure of the Postal Service. The OIG also has the responsibility of protecting and maintaining the integrity of postal processes and personnel. To contact the OIG, please call 1-888-877-7644, email hotline@uspsoig.gov, visit USPS OIG Contact Form, or mail 1735 N Lynn Street, Arlington, VA 22209-2020.

https://www.prc.gov/consumer-assistance

I'll write to him/her tomorrow. I don't know what else to do at this point. It's probably an exercise in futility, but I have to try to do something.

August 5, 2020

I was half-seriously wondering if Swan had studied Steven Hassan's book

The Cult of Trump and Hassan's meticulous breakdown of techniques Trump uses to frame and reframe issues, because he was staggeringly good at grabbing the frame back from Trump and placing it where it belongs.

August 5, 2020

One of the greats.

Under the Volcano is an under-appreciated masterpiece.

Alan Parker passed away a few days ago. One of my favorite John Huston quotes is when he was talking about Parker's movie Angel Heart. He said, to the best of my recollection, "Angel Heart is ninety minutes of the greatest movie ever made, followed by twenty minutes of the worst movie ever made." (I respectfully disagree with the second part of his statement. )

John Huston was also the subject of Clint Eastwood's movie White Hunter, Black Heart. Eastwood portrayed John Huston during the making of African Queen.

It's a really good movie and a fascinating portrait of Huston.

Lastly, John Houston gave a remarkably haunting performance in Roman Polanski's classic, Chinatown.



By the way, if you thought Jacqueline Bisset was just a pretty face who couldn't act, you need to see Under the Volcano because her performance is a revelation.

August 5, 2020

Trump is growing increasingly risk-averse.

He now rarely ventures anywhere that might make him uncomfortable, or put him face to face with adversaries or opponents.

Those two interviews--Chris Wallace and Swan--were outliers and I'm not even sure he knew he would be encountering such difficult questioning.

August 5, 2020

You could make the case that it actually hasn't been for a while now

As Noam Chomsky and Chris Hedges have argued, politicians haven't feared American citizens in years, and a healthy fear by politicians of citizens is what motivates them to legislate accordingly. They legislate based on what powerful corporations and Big Donors want. So it didn't just start with Trump.

But yes, under Trump, we face an actual Constitutional Crisis, with one branch of our government basically powerless and our ability to conduct real oversight ruined. We now face the actual extinction of core pillars of Democracy, and the door is wide open to authoritarian or totalitarian governance.

Maybe that will change as the Republican party shrinks and people become more vocal in demanding change. You could say there is a flash of that happening now.

August 4, 2020

One of my favorites: Sun City (Artists United Against Apartheid)

It's also probably one of the longest protest songs ever written.

The number of well known people involved in this project is quite staggering.