The Digital Dispatch

From NOEBIE.net

Curated Links

Mystery Democrat Theater 2020

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Barrett Takes the Oath

Truth bomb from Leonard C. Goodman at The Chicago Reader. TLDR: Barrett is exactly the kind of judge corporate donors love.

The Democrats claimed to be united in their opposition to Barrett’s confirmation. Yet their resistance to having a justice rammed through at the 11th hour of a lame duck presidency feels like the resistance that the Washington Generals used to show against the Harlem Globetrotters. That is, pure theater in which the outcome is never in doubt. What this tells us is that the corporate donors who control the Democratic Party are happy with a Justice Barrett.

Source: The real reason Democrats didn’t stop the Barrett confirmation | Opinion | Chicago Reader

Dimensions of Meditation

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Today over on the Shyamatara Das site, I share some thoughts on the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of meditation.

As we achieve deeper and more profound levels of consciousness during meditation, it has been speculated that we can experience this field, and interact with it – perhaps even influence it – more directly than we do when mitigated by our bodily senses. Since the field is the foundational essence of all time and space, it is boundless. While experiencing these deeper levels of consciousness, we, too, become unbounded.

Read More: Four Dimensions of Meditation | Shyamatara Das

Report From Thailand

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Tyrell Haberkorn sums up the situation this week in Thailand, where what began as a student movement questioning the role of the monarchy has become a broader struggle for democracy.

In arresting them and others last week, the Thai authorities seemed to hope to end the movement calling for an end to dictatorship and reform of the monarchy by locking its leaders away behind bars. But as the mushrooming protests this past weekend and early this week illustrate, the tactic has failed.

One who is dear to our hearts lives in Bangkok. We pray for her safety during this time of turbulance.

Source: The Fight for Democracy in Thailand | Dissent Magazine

Chris Hedges Sums It Up

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This is a rather long read, and not a lot of fun, but I think that Hedges (as usual) describes the moment well.

Captain America and SkullsThe most difficult existential dilemma we face is to at once acknowledge the bleakness before us and act, to refuse to succumb to cynicism and despair. And we will only do this through faith, the faith that the good draws to it the good, that all acts that nurture and protect life have an intrinsic power, even if the empirical evidence shows that things are getting worse.

Source: Chris Hedges: The Politics of Cultural Despair – scheerpost.com

Restoring Natural Landscapes Offers Hope

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Rewild to mitigate the climate crisis, urge leading scientists. The Guardian reports that restoring natural landscapes damaged by human exploitation can be one of the most effective and cheapest ways to combat the climate crisis while also boosting dwindling wildlife populations, according to a scientific study published recently.

If a third of the planet’s most degraded areas were restored, and protection was thrown around areas still in good condition, that would store carbon equating to half of all human caused greenhouse gas emissions since the industrial revolution.

The changes would prevent about 70% of predicted species extinctions, according to the research, which is published in the journal Nature.

Source: Environment | The Guardian

Organizing To Thwart Theft of a Presidential Election

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There was a brief moment after the election in 2008 where I was worried that G.W. Bush and Dick Cheney would refuse to leave office. When the fears proved unfounded, I chalked it up to paranoia.

This year, I just don’t know. It’s hard to say whether it is sad, or fortunate, that we have come to the point where we have so little confidence in the health and veracity of our public institutions. I suppose that it may be both.

In any case, if folks’ fears about this are realized this time around, the notion of a nationwide general strike to keep the current occupant of the White House compliant is appealing.

Unions Are Beginning to Talk About Staving Off a Possible Coup – Labor Notes Reports: “Therefore, be it finally resolved that the Rochester Labor Council, AFL-CIO calls on the National AFL-CIO, all of its affiliate unions, and all other labor organizations in the United States of America to prepare for and enact a general strike of all working people, if necessary, to ensure a Constitutionally mandated peaceful transition of power as a result of the 2020 Presidential Elections.”

Read More: https://www.labornotes.org/2020/10/unions-are-beginning-talk-about-staving-possible-coup

K-E-double-L-O-double-good.

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The Other Kellogg: Ella Eaton – Edward White’s monthly column, “Off Menu,” at The Paris Review, reminded me about cold cereal’s early history as a health food.

I’m ashamed to say that I had never heard of Ella Eaton.

In the Kellogg story there was one person in particular devoted to getting food right—not the flamboyant, egocentric John, nor the embittered, entrepreneurial William, but Ella Eaton Kellogg, John’s wife, one of the most overlooked but most important names in the ever-twisting story of America’s relationship with food.

Read More: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2020/08/11/the-other-kellogg-ella-eaton/

Which Side Are You On?

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A Bunch of Union Organizers Explain What’s Wrong with Unions – Hamilton Nolan from In These Times asked the real experts about the gap between public enthusiasm for unions and the lack of actual union members.

Read More: https://inthesetimes.com/article/union-density-workers-organizing-staff-experts-public-enthusiasm

Personal Notes: I am a proud, card-carrying union member. Also, I once came dangerously close to being hired as an Associate Editor at ITT. 🙂

Public Safety Alternatives

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BLM Sticker Brian Bean PhotoPublic Safety Without Police – Chicago Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez speaks with Rampant Magazine’s Brian Bean about her efforts to reprogram $150 million in funding from the Chicago Police Department to an alternative Chicago Crisis Response and Care System.

The CPD’s annual budget is $1.8 billion, so this shift would represent less than 10% of the city’s current police funding.

For those who consider calls for “defunding the police” ludicrous, as if major city police departments would cease to exist altogether, I would urge you to read the interview with an open mind, and try to envision how a relatively subtle shift in the way public safety funds are used might improve our lives and communities.

https://rampantmag.com/2020/10/13/public-safety-without-police/