Two new models with industry firsts from the original inventor of the Bluetooth car kit.
Secondly, Parrot has launched the Rhythm N' Blue, a premium AM/FM/CD/MP3 stereo receiver with built in Bluetooth hands free phone calling. This is one of the first products of its kind (I've seen another unit from Alpine) and it removes the need for a separate car kit.
As for the stereo itself, it's no limp wrist being able to play CD, CD-R, CD-RW and MP3 formats with song information displayed via ID3 tags. There is an AM/FM tuner with 30 station presets, a 4x 45 watt internal amplifier and 1x RCA out for external amplifiers. As with all modern stereos, the faceplate is removable to thwart those irritating toe rags who think other people's stuff should be free, while a remote control is supplied so little people in the back can play havoc with your audio choices. The Rhythm N' Blue will debut in Q1 next year and though UK pricing isn't yet available, it has been announced the good ole' US of A will pay $349.
Buy one of these and I think we'll all know who's a pretty boy!


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text:
'STILL' AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY
By Sherryl Connelly
STILL LIFE IN HARLEM By Eddy L. Harris (Henry Holt. $20) AFTER SPENDING A year in Africa, then traveling through the Deep South, specifically to report on how he experienced both as a black American ("Native Stranger," "South of Haunted Dreams"), Eddy L. Harris decided the time had come "to put in my tour of duty on the front lines.
" He moved to Harlem. He lived there for two years, purposely exhausting his savings and going into debt in what was an ultimately futile attempt to know authentically what it is to be poor and trapped at the epicenter of the black world. It is, he acknowledges in his account of that time, STILL LIFE IN HARLEM, not an awareness that can be glibly had. As a friend in Harlem told him: "You can't have the real thing just by living in Harlem awhile and pretending to be poor.
" Harris recalls he was still a boy in Missouri when he made the decision to reach beyond simply being black to make the greater culture his as well. He describes himself as someone who had "taken my heritage, the parts I found useful, and had run away . . . " He saw moving to Harlem, then, as a homecoming of the prodigal son. But Harris, determined to finally and intimately know what it is to live in an exclusively black world in part because he thought it held a singular truth of what it is to be black fell into darkness. He writes of the night toward the end of his second year living in Harlem when a woman's shrieks woke him. She was black, and the man beating the hell out of her was black, too. Harris records his reaction then as the "beginning of the end . . . of my being black. After this, I had had enough. I wanted no more of it.
" This moment is evoked repeatedly throughout "Still Life" as Harris unsparingly evokes the ugliness of the streets around him, the hell endured by the people who walk them and the horrors that are perpetrated there. He had found Harlem, all right, and it taught him "how forgotten and discarded we are.
" Harris is able to make us see again and anew the tragedy of racism and poverty in the personal stories he tells of Harlem's own we hurt, for example, at the death of the teenaged drug dealer. And he effectively scatters the forces who'd have us think the bootstraps are there, that anyone who chooses can leave Harlem behind. As if all it takes is a token, some pluck and a little luck. But even though Harris understands that choice for some is surrendered at birth, even though he knows full well how high the metaphorical fences are surrounding Harlem, his despair and alienation are such that he eventually asks: "I got out; why can't they?
" His answer won't please those who think the survival of the people and culture depends on going deep within and excluding the without. "It is the isolation that makes the prison, of course, and as with all prisons there is confinement on both sides of the fence. We hold our positions like some kind of army encamped and guard ourselves against all the ones who are not like us . . . " If there is a hope, and Harris writes as though he thinks there is, he contends it lies in fighting anew to bring money and resources to Harlem and all other communities like it. But Harris also argues for opening up a new front. He speaks of making a more meaningful return to Harlem all the nation's Harlems but rather than trying to siphon knowledge, bringing knowledge. People haveto be shown there's more to be had, he says, and shown the ways and means of making it theirs. As Harris' chiding friend put it: "We already know how to be poor . . . We don't need somebody coming up here to tell us that the world out there doesn't mean anything . . . What we need is somebody to show us that there is a world out there and it's our world too and that we should not settle so easily and so blindly for this one. "That's what I need you for. That's what my child needs you for.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Mesilla Valley Habitat for Humanity works in partnership with local organizations, businesses, and people everywhere, from all walks of life, to develop communities with people in need by building simple, decent homes in Las Cruces where people can live and grow into all that God intended.
720 N Santa Fe, Las Cruces, NM 88001
info@lascruceshabitat.org
©2017-2020 by HABITAT FOR HUMANITY. Proudly created & donated by SpyderWeb Dev
#MissionMinded
World Habitat Day 2018
SUMMER NEWSLETTER (2017)
Habitat for Humanity ReStore Celebrates Ten Year Anniversary
Habitat Homes Dedicated to Four Local Families
Habitat Home Dedication
Mesilla Valley Habitat for Humanity's 911 Build
Mesilla Valley Habitat for Humanity Kicks off its 2016-2017 Build Season
The Rio Grande Rotary Club of Las Cruces gives $6,000 to Mesilla Valley Habitat for Humanity to Furnish Children's Rooms
Yvette Bayless
Las Cruces, NM (October 3, 2016) —. On Monday, Oct. 3, 2016, Mesilla Valley Habitat for Humanity celebrated " World Habitat Day" and joined with their partners around the globe to rededicate themselves to their philosophy; everyone deserves a simple, decent place to live. Volunteers, staff, board members, partner families, Care-A-Vanners, and many community supporters, helped raise the walls on the 106th Habitat house: joining the global movement vowing to lend their voices and their time, toward ending poverty housing.
" In honor of World Habitat Day, we raised the walls on one of five, new houses that will soon become homes for five hardworking, local families!" stated Maria Vasquez, Executive Director of Mesilla Valley Habitat for Humanity. " By building alongside one another, we are able to put our mission into action. We invite everyone who is able, to join us on the build site whenever possible- help us give a hand up, not a hand out to our neighbors in need."
World Habitat Day is the one day set aside yearly to recognize the basic right of all humanity to adequate shelter, and to inspire grassroots action toward ending poverty housing. The United Nations General Assembly declared in 1985 that the first Monday in October would be World Habitat Day.
Over 30 people showed up on site, ready to build. Skillfully led by Pete Pemperton (Construction Supervisor) and Dyana Todd (Construction Assistant), the walls went up fairly quickly. " The construction team makes sure that everyone has job to do, a valuable job." Says one volunteer about the experience, " Nobody goes home feeling like they didn't contribute to the actual construction of the home and nobody goes home without sore muscles either. "
Care-A-Vanners travel in their RV's to participate in builds across the nation. Some are new to Las Cruces and others are repeat visitors to the MVHFH affiliate.
Operations Coordinator, Yvette Bayless participated in her first build this year, along with many others. " I am overwhelmed with the amount of dedication our volunteers have." Said Yvette. " Some travel from all over the country to be here and work on their own dime. We could not do this without them, and without community support from businesses like Little Caesars, Dunkin Donuts, and Alberstons, who provided meals and snacks to our hardworking volunteers."
The build season continues into April, 2017. If you would like more information or would like to volunteer, please contact Yvette Bayless. 575.525.0475
Home Dedication


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Why Does SHECP Need Resources?
The Consortium supports conferences and programs as well as summer internships for students and faculty at member institutions. The student interns (129 in the summer of 2018) collaborate with communities and individuals through agencies working with impoverished communities. SHECP and its member institutions meet all of the costs for these internships as well as for courses to prepare graduates for a lifetime of informed service to society. Your financial support can help sustain this combination of service to community agencies and education for a lifetime of initiatives to diminish poverty. SHECP interns receive a small stipend to cover meals and transportation.
If you wish to discuss designating a specific purpose for your gift or how to make an equities or securities donation to SHECP, you are welcome to contact Dr. Brett Morash, Executive Director, at brett.morash@shepherdconsortium.org.
The Shepherd Higher Education Consortium enables and supports collaboration among its member institutions for the purpose of advancing sustained curricular and co-curricular education focused on poverty and human capability in order to prepare students for a lifetime of professional and civic efforts to diminish poverty and enhance human capability.


text:
Q: Creating map and saving it to image with GeoTools I would like to create a map with GeoTools and save it to an image (e.g. JPEG). My requirements are simple:

*

*Create a map of the world with 2 layers: Political boundaries and a graticule. The layers are from different sources and different projections.

*Output the map to different projections (e.g. "EPSG:5070", "EPSG:4326", "EPSG:54012", "EPSG:54009", etc.)

*Clip the output to different AOIs (e.g. -124.79 to -66.9 lon, 24.4 to 49.4 lat).

I want to do this programmatically, via the API. So far, I have had limited success. I have learned to create a map and output in various projections using this approach:
//Step 1: Create map
MapContent map = new MapContent();
map.setTitle("World");

//Step 2: Set projection
CoordinateReferenceSystem crs = CRS.decode("EPSG:5070"); //Conic projection over US
MapViewport vp = map.getViewport();
vp.setCoordinateReferenceSystem(crs);

//Step 3: Add layers to map
CoordinateReferenceSystem mapCRS = map.getCoordinateReferenceSystem();
map.addLayer(reproject(getPoliticalBoundaries(), mapCRS));
map.addLayer(reproject(getGraticules(), mapCRS));

//Step 4: Save image
saveImage(map, "/temp/graticules.jpg", 800);

The save method is straight from the GeoTools website:
public void saveImage(final MapContent map, final String file, final int imageWidth) {

    GTRenderer renderer = new StreamingRenderer();
    renderer.setMapContent(map);

    Rectangle imageBounds = null;
    ReferencedEnvelope mapBounds = null;
    try {
        mapBounds = map.getMaxBounds();
        double heightToWidth = mapBounds.getSpan(1) / mapBounds.getSpan(0);
        imageBounds = new Rectangle(
                0, 0, imageWidth, (int) Math.round(imageWidth * heightToWidth));

    } catch (Exception e) {
        // failed to access map layers
        throw new RuntimeException(e);
    }

    BufferedImage image = new BufferedImage(imageBounds.width, imageBounds.height, BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_RGB);

    Graphics2D gr = image.createGraphics();
    gr.setPaint(Color.WHITE);
    gr.fill(imageBounds);

    try {
        renderer.paint(gr, imageBounds, mapBounds);
        File fileToSave = new File(file);
        ImageIO.write(image, "jpeg", fileToSave);

    } catch (IOException e) {
        throw new RuntimeException(e);
    }
}

The reproject method is my invention. It's a bit of a hack but its the only way I could find to output an image to a specific projection.
private static Layer reproject(Layer layer, CoordinateReferenceSystem mapCRS) throws Exception {

    SimpleFeatureSource featureSource = (SimpleFeatureSource) layer.getFeatureSource();

  //Define coordinate transformation
    CoordinateReferenceSystem dataCRS = featureSource.getSchema().getCoordinateReferenceSystem();
    boolean lenient = true; // allow for some error due to different datums
    MathTransform transform = CRS.findMathTransform(dataCRS, mapCRS, lenient);

  //Create new feature collection
    SimpleFeatureCollection copy = FeatureCollections.newCollection("internal");
    SimpleFeatureType featureType = SimpleFeatureTypeBuilder.retype(featureSource.getSchema(), mapCRS);
    SimpleFeatureIterator iterator = featureSource.getFeatures().features();
    try {

        while (iterator.hasNext()) {

            SimpleFeature feature = iterator.next();
            Geometry geometry = (Geometry) feature.getDefaultGeometry();
            Geometry geometry2 = JTS.transform(geometry, transform);
            copy.add( SimpleFeatureBuilder.build( featureType, new Object[]{ geometry2 }, null) );
        }

    }
    catch (Exception e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
    finally {
        iterator.close();
    }

  //Return new layer
    Style style = SLD.createLineStyle(Color.BLACK, 1);
    layer = new FeatureLayer(copy, style);
    layer.setTitle("Graticules");
    return layer;
}

The output is really bad:

So, I guess I have a couple different questions:

*

*Is this the right approch? Do I really need to reproject layers manually or is the MapViewport supposed to do this for me?

*How do I clip the output to a specific AOI? I have tried setting the bounds using the MapViewport.setBounds(envelope) method but the saveImage method seems to ignore the bounds.

*How do I get my latitude lines to render as arcs? Is there a transform setting that I am missing?

I am using GeoTools 8.7.

A: Ian's answer is correct, and I have marked it as such. For the sake of completeness for anyone else that might be interested...

Question 1
No, you do not have to manually reproject layers. Specifying the projection on the viewport should suffice. Example:
    MapViewport vp = map.getViewport();
    CoordinateReferenceSystem crs = CRS.decode("EPSG:5070");
    vp.setCoordinateReferenceSystem(crs);

Question 2
In order to clip the map, you need to set the viewport bounds AND update the saveImage function. Here's an example of how to set the bounds to the projection extents:
    Extent crsExtent = crs.getDomainOfValidity();
    for (GeographicExtent element : crsExtent.getGeographicElements()) {
        if (element instanceof GeographicBoundingBox) {
            GeographicBoundingBox bounds = (GeographicBoundingBox) element;
            ReferencedEnvelope bbox = new ReferencedEnvelope(
                bounds.getSouthBoundLatitude(),
                bounds.getNorthBoundLatitude(),
                bounds.getWestBoundLongitude(),
                bounds.getEastBoundLongitude(),

                CRS.decode("EPSG:4326")
            );
            ReferencedEnvelope envelope = bbox.transform(crs, true);
            vp.setBounds(envelope);
        }
    }

In addition to setting the viewport bounds, the saveImage function should be modified to use the viewport bounds instead of map.getMaxBounds().
Change:
mapBounds = map.getMaxBounds();

To this:
mapBounds = map.getViewport().getBounds();

Here's the output:

Question 3
Thanks to Ian's suggestion, I was able to get the latitude lines to curve by densifying the line string. Here's the key snippit from the getGraticules() method referenced in the original post:
  //Add lines of latitude
    for (int y=-90; y<=90; y+=15){
        java.util.ArrayList<Coordinate> coords = new java.util.ArrayList<Coordinate>();
        for (double x=-135; x<=-45; x+=0.5){
            coords.add(new Coordinate(y,x,0));
        }
        LineString line = new LineString(coords.toArray(new Coordinate[coords.size()]), precisionModel, 4326);
        collection.add( SimpleFeatureBuilder.build( TYPE, new Object[]{ line }, null) );
    }

The output is as follows:

Although this approach works, I was hoping for a transform setting or something that would arc the lines for me.

A: 1) the map should handle the reprojection for you. See the QuickStart for an example.
2) you ask the map for it's maxBounds not current bounds, and you might want to clip by the CRS's DomainOfValidity to avoid unpleasant weirdness.
3) I'm not sure how you are generating your graticles but if you use the grids module you can densify the lines to make them become arcs.
Edit
If I use the states.shp (from GeoServer) I get this:

using the code here.
end edit
Finally the projection handling has been improved recently so you might want to move to GeoTools 12 or 13.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Let Freedom Roll! Join us for our Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial skate on Saturday January 19th from 10pm-1am. Hosted by SKATES and Tulsa's DJ Pete. Admission $7, Skates $2.50 includes skates. 18 and older to enter, 21+ to drink. Concessions, beer, and wine available. Facebook Event.
You have heard him spin at Tulsa bars and clubs like: Jewel, Suede, Kampai, Studio 54 & 310, Majestics, id Bar, Red Room, and Pink. You don't want to miss this Epic Skate Party!
Christmas is right around the corner and we are ready to roller skate with you. SKATES will be adding session time to our schedule when school is out during Christmas vacation. Mark your calendars and roll with us during any one of our public skating sessions. Be sure to visit our Birthday Party page and see what SKATES has to offer for your next celebration.
SKATES presents Winter Wonderland Skate Party with special guest appearances by Elsa, Anna, and the Grinch. Meet and greet with photo opportunities. Roller skating, bounce house, face painting, craft tables and more. Admission $10 includes skate rental and a slice of pizza. Adult spectators $2. Pre-sale tickets available.
For more information give us a call at 918.241.2342.


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Give us a call at 705-534-7863, or email me at ccpestcontrol@gmail.com and I will be happy to send Ross out to deal with your mice, squirrels, bedbugs, whatever….


New Earth Solutions is a waste treatment and renewable energy specialist operating at a number of facilities across the UK. They provide waste treatment services to local authority and commercial customers in the UK, helping them enhance recycling and reduce impact on the environment by diverting waste away from landfill.
New Earth Solutions run their own recycling equipment at their Blaise Composting Facility in Kent to screen impurities from compost at the end of their process. This purpose built 50,000 tonne per year in-vessel facility for green and food waste has been operating since 2008. In 2009, planning permission was granted to increase the overall capacity to 100,000 tonnes of waste per year.
Whilst their own equipment is sufficient for much of the year, during peak garden growing times in spring and summer, New Earth Solutions need to supplement their own equipment with additional units.
As the largest user of Doppstadt equipment in the world, and with a fleet of machines which substantially outstrips that of any of their competitors, CRJ supplied a Doppstadt SM518 Trommel Screen with a 20mm drum to New Earth Solutions for a hire period of one month.
"We have repeatedly chosen CRJ as our supplier since 2009," says Stuart. "This is down to their ability to consistently react quickly to our needs, coupled with their knowledge and personal service and above all, keeping their promise to deliver the most effective machines for the job, on time.
The hire also included CRJ's standard maintenance and support package. All machines are backed up by in-house, factory trained engineers to deliver CRJ's promise that, in the event of any issues, an engineer will be on site the same or next day, anywhere in the UK.
"CRJ delivered a reliable screener to us within a short timescale, and we were able to achieve the required 50% increase in throughput and maintain continuity of business."


text:
Outameni, one mess:Questions mount over NHT's purchase of Trelawny attraction
Published:Wednesday | November 5, 2014 | 12:00 AM
Taino 'Naniki' rushes to protect his woman 'Atabeh' during the Taino segment of Outameni Experience in Cooper's Pen, Trelawny. File
Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer
The purchase by the National Housing Trust (NHT) of Outameni Tours and Entertainment Projects, located in Cooper's Pen, near Falmouth, Trelawny, emerged out of a political decision made in late 2012, after prominent tourist interests on both sides of the divide asked the Portia Simpson Miller administration to salvage the nine-acre property, The Gleaner has learned.
The Government reportedly turned to the newly installed NHT board, chaired by former government minister Easton Douglas, for "assistance".
Questions have since been raised as to whether the matter was subject to Cabinet scrutiny, but checks with the Office of the Prime Minister, under which the NHT falls, have so far failed to yield a response.
Attention has now been turned to representatives of five powerful trade unions sitting on the NHT board, who have been silent on the issue since news surfaced that the Trust acquired the property for $180 million. Among the questions that have surfaced in the public domain is whether they have failed workers in need of houses under the guise of an investment.
When the decision was made to purchase Outameni in 2012, the bulk of the major trade unions were represented on the NHT Board.
PAYMENT ISSUE RAISED
The Gleaner was informed that the issue of payment was raised at board meetings in 2012, but payment was not made until March 2013.
During the 2012 board meetings, one member reportedly raised the concern about the $11 billion a year that the Government was extracting from the Trust. Another member reportedly asked whether the NHT would be further exposed, signalling that the transaction resembled a bailout rather than an investment.
It is understood that trade unionists were caught unaware when the issue resurfaced last week.
Government Senator Lambert Brown represents the University and Allied Workers' Union, and Kavan Gayle, an opposition senator, the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union. Helene Davies White represents the Jamaica Association of Local Government Officers, while O'Neil Grant sits for the Jamaica Civil Service Association, which represents the vast majority of public-sector workers. Former president of the governing People's National Party-aligned National Workers' Union, Vincent Morrison, who now heads the breakaway Union of Clerical, Administrative and Supervisory Employees, also sits on the NHT board.
With union representatives maintaining a silent posture under the mantle of collective responsibility, Danny Roberts, the head of the Hugh Lawson Shearer Trade Union Education Institute, the Consortium for Social Development and Research, Open Campus at the University of the West Indies, has come to the defence of his colleagues.
"That's a difficult matter to assess without all the information," said Roberts. "If Outameni represents an investment possibility for medium-to-long-term earnings, then it certainly would be an equation which would have to be weighed if, in the long term, more houses can be built for the working population."
Roberts argued that there is always a choice between dealing with an immediate need with limited implications for the future, as against postponing for the prospect of a better, sustainable future.
"Knowing the trade union leaders on the board as I do, I believe they would have made the best decision in the medium-to-long-term interest of the workers," said Roberts.
Speaking with The Gleaner yesterday, Howard Mitchell, the former chairman of the NHT board, maintained his position that the NHT was shortchanging Jamaicans by veering off course.
Mitchell said that under his watch, the Trust would have had the capacity to provide houses for 100 per cent of contributing workers if funds were not being diverted. He suggested that the Government should have sourced funding to save Outameni from the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF).
"If you want to help someone, help through the TEF," he said.
Banks, Mitchell argued, should have been made to find the $11 billion per year over four years that is being taken out by the Government. He said with the high level of squatting and urban decay, the NHT should have been focusing on its core function.
The NHT board, which made the decision to purchase the property, came into effect in February 2012 and the decision to make the payment was made later that year while Cecile Watson was managing director.
By then, the proposal was said to be far advanced, but Mitchell said that matter never came up under his watch.
"I left the NHT in June 2012, but the matter was never … I didn't know of the matter prior to now."
He added: "It's not tribalism or politics, but the sad truth is that we failed in my tenure … . We could have provided for all of our clients, but we only managed 50 per cent. That, to me, was not success, and it was for this reason that I called for a review of the operations of the NHT."
gary.spaulding@gleanerjm.com
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text:
Ghana Lifts Restrictions Despite Increase in Coronavirus Cases
Ghana's President, Nana Akufo-Addo, has lifted the three weeks restriction on movement in parts of the country implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19.
In a televised address on Sunday, April 19, Mr Akufo-Addo said the decision was made based on progress in containing the spread of the disease, measures put in place to tackle the disease and the impact of the lockdown on the poor and vulnerable.
"Fellow Ghanaians, in view of our ability to undertake aggressive contact tracing of infected persons, the enhancement of our capacity to test, the expansion in the numbers of our treatment and isolation centres, our better understanding of the dynamism of the virus, the ramping up of our domestic capacity to produce our own personal protective equipment, sanitisers and medicines, the modest successes chalked at containing the spread of the virus in Accra and Kumasi, and the severe impact on the poor and vulnerable, I have taken the decision to lift the three (3) week old restriction on movements in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area and Kasoa, and the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area and its contiguous districts, with effect from 1 am on Monday, 20th April. In effect, tomorrow will see the partial lockdown in Accra and Kumasi being lifted," the president announced.
Four major cities in the Greater Accra, Ashanti and Central regions had been under lockdown since March 31, following confirmation of 137 cases. The president at the time said the decision was based on science and data and that future course of action would be determined by these same factors.
The ban on mass gatherings and the closure of Ghana's borders to human traffic, however, remain in force.
The announcement has come as a surprise to some who were anticipating an extension or a national lockdown following a spike in the number of confirmed cases across the country.
Ghana's coronavirus case count has increased steadily since the index case was reported on March 12 and has spread to 10 of its 16 regions.
A total of 1,043 cases have been confirmed as of Sunday, April 19. The majority of cases are in Accra (882) and Kumasi (62). Of the number, 99 persons have recovered and have been discharged while nine have died.
Tags COVID-19ghana


Writing an article on significant events in Canadian history is a difficult task for the historian. Although we are supposed to be well-read in topics such as Confederation, Vimy Ridge, universal healthcare, and the 1972 Summit Series, we are taught to apply a critical eye to events and peoples that "represent" what it "means" to be Canadian. The significance of major events should not be overlooked, but historians are cautious to accept "traditional" or "popular" histories that focus too narrowly on select episodes. Certainly, there is much more to Canada's past than is portrayed in short, made-for-TV Heritage Minutes, to cite just one well-known example. But perhaps professional history in Canada is itself too harsh on many of the topics and themes that seem to resonate with so many people outside the discipline. With this in mind, today's post takes a brief look at some key moments in Canadian political history that have come to symbolize a nation and its populace.
Since 1867 Canada has had 22 Prime Ministers in Parliament. Each party leader has brought their own unique vision to their party that sometimes hindered and other times helped their pursuit of power in Ottawa. In that same time there have been multiple third parties that have taken a completely different path from that of the ruling parties to gain the much coveted Official Opposition status. And of course behind every third party was a dedicated leader with vision and ideology that shaped their party. Yet the question is how much do these visions and ideologies affect actual federal policy?
Although only the Liberals and Conservatives have ever formed government in Canada, our history is riddled with other parties throwing their hats into the ring. Sometimes, these fringe parties have an impact on Canadian governance, but mostly they sat on the sidelines. This week, we discuss some of the "fourth parties" that have sat in the House of Commons.
The New Democratic Party has been a popular – but not popular enough – choice for Canadian voters since its creation in 1961. They have never formed government, though in 2011 they were the Official Opposition with 103 of 308 seats, which was quite the rebound from their disastrous 1993 showing of 9 out of 295 seats. They have traditionally wavered between 15 and 30 seats, sometimes playing a pivotal role in influencing minority governments. For most of their history, they were content to be the "conscience of the House" until their recent electoral breakthroughs.
The Ebb and Flow of Conservatism in Canada: Where will the Tide of Tory Blue Turn Next?
Although Canadian Prime Minster Stephen Harper is currently "under the gun" for a declining Canadian economy and as a result of the Mike Duffy trial, the past eight years has witnessed a resurgence of Tory blue in Canada. In light of this recent success, it is the perfect time to consider the ebb and flow of an intriguing and important political institution in Canadian political history.
This week we are beginning a series at Clio's Current to coincide with the 2015 Canadian election. For the next ten weeks, we will be writing about various aspects of Canadian political history. For our non-Canadian readers, we hope that you enjoy this extended foray and maybe learn a bit about Canada's fascinating political history (well, we think it is!). If you want a primer on recent events leading up to the 2015 election, you should check out Paul Wells' excellent overview in Maclean's before plunging into the past.
On 30 January 1962, a girls' school in Kashasha, twenty-five miles outside of Bukoba on the coast of Lake Victoria in the state of Tanganyika (present day Tanzania), was suddenly afflicted with a bizarre case of spontaneous laughter. Three girls began laughing and couldn't stop. Stranger still, the laughter spread throughout the school and eventually into surrounding villages. The laughter lasted on average seven days and sometimes as long as six months. By the time the epidemic ended, 14 schools had to be shut down and 1000 people were infected. What happened?


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An unnamed daughter of Julius Constantius was the first known wife of Constantius II.

Family
She is mentioned in the "Letter To The Senate And People of Athens" by Emperor Julian to have been a sister of Constantius Gallus.  When mentioning the execution of Gallus by orders of Constantius II, Julian lists the several ways the two men were related. "Constantius gave over to his most inveterate enemies, his own cousin, the Caesar, his sister's husband, the father of his niece, the man whose own sister he had himself married in earlier days".

Gallus was a son of Julius Constantius and his first wife Galla. She is assumed to be a full sister of Gallus. Julius Constantius was a son of Constantius Chlorus and Flavia Maximiana Theodora. He was a paternal half-brother of Constantine I. In 337, Constantine I died. Several of his relatives were killed shortly after his death. Julius Constantius was among them. The "History of the Arians" (358) by Athanasius of Alexandria reports on Constantius II having killed his father-in-law. Though Constantius had two later marriages, this is considered a reference to Julius Constantius. "The common feelings of humanity could not induce him to spare even his own kindred. His uncles he slew; his cousins he put out of the way; he commiserated not the sufferings of his father-in-law, though he had married his daughter, or of his kinsmen".

A brother is considered to have been assassinated with their father in 337. Julian the Apostate was a younger, paternal half-brother to this Empress.

Marriage
Her marriage to Constantius seems to be recorded in the Life of Constantine by Eusebius of Caesarea. "On the completion of the thirtieth year of his [Constantine's] reign he solemnized the marriage of his second son [Constantius II],  having concluded that of his first-born long before. This was an occasion of great joy and festivity, the emperor himself attending on his son at the ceremony, and entertaining the guests of both sexes, the men and women in distinct and separate companies, with sumptuous hospitality. Rich presents likewise were liberally distributed among the cities and people." The marriage can be estimated to 335 or 336. Constantine I had been declared emperor in 306.

Neither her name nor the time of her death appear in surviving sources. Thomas M. Banchich, a modern historian, points that "her passing may have facilitated Gallus' fall in 353/4". The "Panegyric In Honour Of Eusebia" by Julian the Apostate places the marriage of Eusebia, second wife of Constantius, prior to the defeat of rival emperor Magnentius. Magnentius was dead by August, 353. The marriage of Constantius and Eusebia may have occurred earlier in the year.

References

4th-century births
350s deaths
4th-century Roman empresses
Constantinian dynasty
Unidentified people
Constantius II

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Healing and Learning Facilitator & Opening Soundscape, 2021 Arts Education Symposium on Anti-Racism, Arts Education in Maryland Schools
Speaker, The Importance of Self-Care for Women in the Law, McKool Smith ,Women's Leadership Forum
Facilitator, Town Hall Gathering, Leslie Lohman Museum of Art
Performer, Closing Soundscapes, Dive In Well Relaunch Party
Guest Teacher, Moving through Internalized Oppression, University of California, Berkeley, Dance Studies, Dr. SanSan Kwan
Performer/Speaker, A Soundscape on Growing through Discomfort, RAWdance and ODC Theater Co-Present "The Healer"
Moderator, What Does Racial Diversity Look Like in a Race-Specific Organization? A Conversation with Sade Lythcott, Jafreen Uddin, and Natalia Viera, The Asian American Arts Alliance + The Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation
Performer/Speaker: Self-Care for Collective Justice soundscape, Arts Administrators of Color Network, 2020 Annual Convening
Panelist: Broadway for Black Lives Matter, Broadway Advocacy Coalition, The Miseducation
Guest Lecturer: Self-Care and Social Justice, University of California, Berkeley Policing, Race, and Gender in America, Dr. Kenley Brown
Presenter: Equity in Grantmaking, New York State Council for the Arts, DEC Coordinators
Opening Speaker: The United State of Women, Galvanize CT, Goodwin College, Connecticut
Co-Presenter: Community Conversation, Pass Over by Antoinette Nwandu directed by Danya Tamor, Lincoln Center Theater, LCT3, New York, NY
Moderator: Unbecoming Film Release, The Prisoner Reentry Institute and The Prison Window Media Project at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY
Panel Speaker: Diversity and Inclusion- Addressing and Overcoming Implicit Bias in Bar Leadership, 46th Annual Meeting of the New England Bar Association, The Study at Yale Hotel
Keynote Speaker: UConn School of Law, Pathways to Legal Careers: An Access and Opportunity Pipeline Program
Panel Moderator: From Books to Cuffs- LGBTQ Youth & the School to Prison Pipeline, American University Journal of Gender Social Policy & the Law Symposium, The Criminalization of LGBTQ Youth, A Call to Action
Panel Speaker: 15th Annual American Bar Association National Conference: Children and the Law, 2013, Promising Strategies to Combat the School-to-Prison Pipeline
Speaker & Trainer, The Intersection of Arts & Civic Engagement, The Black and Engaged Convening, Philadelphia, PA
Keynote Speaker: UConn School of Law, Using the Law to Challenge the Status Quo, Hartford, CT
Panel Speaker: In Theory- Talk Back, WOW Cafe Theatre, New York, NY
Panel Speaker: American AF-Talk Back, New Ohio Theatre, New York, NY
Co-Symposium Producer: One Nation Under Law: How the Law Impacts the Muslim-American Experience, Public Interest Law Journal, Hartford, CT
HONORS
The Diversity and International Action Council Award for Diversity and Inclusion, Wagner College
George N. Lindsay Civil Rights Legal Fellow, The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Catalyst for Change Award, American University Washington College of Law
Public Interest Law Award, University of Connecticut School of Law
Watch, Act, Vote: The Impact of TONYC LegislativeTheatre on New York City Policy and Civic Engagement, Theatre of the Oppressed NYC, 2018
Actors as Activists! Canvassing 101,Theatre of the Oppressed NYC, 2017
4 Ways to Increase the Social Impact of Your Art, 2016
Exposing the Myths Opposing Restorative Discipline in Oakland Unified School District, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, 2012
The Dream Act, An Advocate Guide, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, 2011
Header photo by Liz Maney


Background · Melbourne Men's Group Inc.
Melbourne Men's Group Inc. was established in 1998 and is an incorporated (No. A0092192U), not for profit, volunteer based organisation founded and operated by men, for men.
Our purpose is to enrich the lives of men by enabling authentic meaningful relationships, integrating the head with the heart, and promoting personal growth and wellbeing.
We are governed by a Council of organisation members consistent with Consumer Affairs Victoria, Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012. The office holders of Melbourne Men's Group Inc. are David Mallard (President), Dr Roger Hilton (Vice President & Treasurer) and Damian Podbury (Secretary).
Men are raised in Australia within the context of an 'emotional straight-jacket'. We still hear the damaging messages so prevalent in our culture, 'don't be a mummy's boy', 'don't be a sissy', 'big boys don't cry', 'harden-up' etc – to be accepted we learn to stop displaying emotion and not talk about how we feel.
This impedes many men's development, manifesting as emotional timidity, limited self-awareness and poor self control. It undermines the quality of relationships and has other problematic downstream impacts. It also works to isolate men from each other and reduce the possibility of achieving a balanced, authentic, mature masculinity.
To address the negative implications of this cultural socialisation process and to deliver practical solutions over time, Melbourne Men's Group supports regular Men's Group meetings and accelerated experiential learning programs specifically for men.
For over 75 years, Harvard's Grant and Glueck study has tracked the physical and emotional well-being of two populations of men: 456 men growing up in Boston from 1939 to 2014 (the Grant Study), and 268 men from Harvard's classes of 1939-1944 (the Glueck study).
The clearest message from this 75-year study is this: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period. It doesn't matter whether you have a huge group of friends and go out every weekend or if you're in a "perfect" romantic relationship (as if those exist). It's the quality of the relationships – how much vulnerability and depth exists within them; how safe you feel sharing with one another; the extent to which you can relax and be seen for who you truly are, and truly see another.
Given the social and cultural context most men are socialised within, developing and maintaining quality relationships is a challenge. This is where the value of Melbourne Men's Group experiences cannot be underestimated.


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Home / gaming
Fans lose their minds over Kevin Conroy's Batman casting in MultiVersus game
Danny Peterson Nov 18, 2021 2:05 pm Nov 18, 2021 2:05 pm
One of Warner Bros.' greatest assets when it comes to its upcoming Smash Bros.-like free-to-play brawler game MultiVersus is proving to be its genuinely star-studded voice cast, with each announcement of some of the original character actors returning blowing many fans' minds.
We've already covered how the likes of Maisie Williams and Matthew Lillard are returning for their respective roles as Arya Stark and Shaggy, which is making pop culture fanatics go positively looney. But the return of a certain legendary Dark Knight voice actor⏤whose turn as Bruce Wayne has arguably never been topped in the animated realm following his debut as the vigilante in 1992's Batman: The Animated Series⏤is also stirring up such a tizzy on Twitter that you'd think people had been poisoned by the Clown Prince of Crime's Joker Venom.
The man, the myth, and the legend Kevin Conroy's official Twitter account was even tagged in the announcement on social media.
He is vengeance. He is the night. @RealKevinConroy is #Batman. #MultiVersus pic.twitter.com/4N7RYAQXtH
— MultiVersus (@multiversus) November 18, 2021
The fan reactions have been understandably excited.
Getting Kevin Conroy as the Batman is the cherry on top of it all, I was already gonna play this game now I'm definitely going to play it A LOT
— Multiversus batman main (@Orilarc) November 18, 2021
Indeed, Conroy's announcement really cemented the game as being the genuine article and not just a pop culture fanatic's fever dream.
THE WB SMASH GAME IS REAL!!! AND EVERYONE IS ACTUALLY VOICED WITH KEVIN CONROY BACK AS BATMAN THIS ACTUALLY LOOKS GOOD??? pic.twitter.com/Pz6ulvGUbr
— Tyler (@Nanogenix) November 18, 2021
On the other hand, some were worried that Conroy might perhaps need a lozenge for that sandpaper-like growl.
… No way is that Kevin Conroy.
And if that is him, someone needs to call an otolaryngologist. https://t.co/sENywza3xh
— Sam (@Spainkiller) November 18, 2021
With Conroy's involvement, and other talented voice actors joining the roster as well as the title being free-to-play, the announcement cemented the title for some as being the brawler that may actually stand a chance at being considered in the same weight class as Smash Bros. at this point, despite Nickelodeon's attempt to do the same with their All Star Brawl that released last month.
This game is free. This game has voice acting. This game has Kevin Conroy as Batman. It's already better than the Nick game that flopped https://t.co/ZvscOTWK0B
— Levi (@xLordOfAnime) November 18, 2021
MultiVersus releases in 2022 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Series X|S, and PC.


Do you cover vehicle subscription services such as Drover?
Do you cover pets travelling in the vehicle?
If I've already left the UK can I buy cover?
What is the maximum age of vehicle you can cover?
Am I able to purchase Breakdown Cover if I am not a UK resident?


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Dr. Modi
Pharma Partnering
Marijuana ETF 'the most scrutinized fund that we've ever launched,' Horizons CEO says
By FloproMarch 30, 2017 No Comments
Canadians will be able to invest in a basket of marijuana companies when the first marijuana exchange-traded fund launches next week, helping investors diversify their exposure to the volatile and frothy sector.
The Horizons Medical Marijuana Life Sciences ETF (TSX: HMMJ) is slated to begin trading Tuesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. It will include 11 Canadian-listed stocks and four listed in the United States.
Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), which track the performance of a specific index or sector, have proliferated in recent years.
And while there are ETFs for everything from cybersecurity to construction, Horizons needed to jump over an unusual number of regulatory hurdles to add marijuana to the mix, said Steve Hawkins, president and Co-CEO of Horizons ETFs.
"There was lots of regulatory scrutiny, it's a very controversial asset class," he said.
"By a long shot, this was the most scrutinized fund that we've ever launched out of the hundred plus that we've done."
However, it's also a sector that Horizons sees as very lucrative. Hawkins said being first to market with a sector-specific fund has proven an important barometer of success.
Horizons pushed its debut ahead to beat out potential competitors, which have proposed similar funds. Paperwork for a medical marijuana and hemp-focused ETF was filed in February with U.S. regulators by ETF Managers Trust.
As the Canadian government gears up to introduce marijuana legalization legislation as early as next month, the option to invest in an ETF is yet another sign the black market drug is becoming mainstream.
"It is something that investors want to invest in, it is extremely topical," Hawkins said.
"We've never received the feedback for any other product that we've launched like we have for this product."
This was the most scrutinized fund that we've ever launched out of the hundred plus that we've done
Horizons is quick to point out it will not invest in any businesses that are not legal, including Canadian recreational-only companies or U.S. companies that produce or distribute marijuana itself.
It is only listed in Canada as pure-play weed companies are barred from listing on U.S. stock exchanges because, despite its legality in several U.S. states, it is still on the federal government's list of Schedule I narcotics, alongside heroin and LSD.
The fund will be passively-managed and offer a management fee of 0.75 per cent. It focuses on companies that generate revenue from the medical marijuana industry, including Canada's largest publicly-traded licensed marijuana producers such as Canopy Growth Corp., Aphria Inc. and CanniMed Therapeutics.
It also includes Canadian-listed stocks that are active in other markets such as CannaRoyalty Corp., which has interests in U.S. marijuana-related companies that deal in everything from real estate to devices to skincare products, and International Cannabis Corp., a marijuana producer in Uruguay, the only country where marijuana is currently legal at the federal level.
It was only a matter of time before a marijuana ETF was launched and there are several others in the works, said Khurram Malik, head of research at Jacob Capital Management.
The problem is, he added, there are not enough large and liquid cannabis companies to put in funds to make them look like a typical ETF.
"The problem with the cannabis space is there's only so many you can put in there, so there will have to be a couple of other large names to round things out that are kind of weedy but not pure play because they have to hit a certain number of stocks to hit a diversification threshold."
The largest stock in the fund is Ohio-based, New York Stock Exchange-listed lawn care provider Scotts Miracle-Gro, which invests in hydroponics, soil, growing systems and lights for the marijuana sector. British pharmaceutical giant, GW Pharmaceuticals, which is NASDAQ-listed, is also included due to its focus on developing cannabinoid-based medicine.
The fund is dynamic, meaning it has the flexibility to include more companies as medical and recreational marijuana becomes legal in more regions.
It will be re-balanced every quarter, based on Solactive's North American Medical Marijuana Index that screens companies for size, market capitalization, liquidity, dollar value and the number of shares traded on a daily basis.
Previous PostMeet the NFF: New Group to Lobby Trump, Congress on Cannabis
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Posts tagged with "PC"
I hacked my 'un-overclockable' i5 6500 to hit 4.3GHz and outperformed my old i7 2600K
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The Nvidia Volta graphics cards are set to house the next generation of GPUs from team GeForce...
AMD Ryzen critiques, information, efficiency, pricing, and availability.
The AMD Ryzen processors have turned the CPU world on its head this year. They represent the...
Wild Guns Reloaded Review
July 12th, 2017 0
Howdy partners, and welcome to my review of Wild Guns Reloaded. The original Wild Guns is known as one of the greatest titles to ever...
PS Now Library Now Includes PS4 Games
July 7th, 2017 0
Streaming service PS Now just received a major upgrade, with the addition of 24 PlayStation 4 games and more will be added in the future along with...
Destiny 2 Content Will Come To PC and Xbox In 2018
Bungie revealed some Destiny 2 exclusive content for PlayStation 4 owners during this year's E3, which kinda made Xbox One and PC gamers feel bad and...
Project Cars 2 Release Date Revealed With E3 2017 Video
Developer and publisher Slightly Mad Studios have finally announced the release date for Project Cars 2. The game comes out globally on September...
FIFA 18 Revealed With Trailer, Will Have Icon, Ronaldo And Standard Edition
EA Sports have confirmed that FIFA 18 will be launched on September 29, 2017 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Switch and Xbox...
Can League of Legends Stay Number 1 Forever?
Ever since the release of the first Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) in the early 2000's, a number a new MOBA's have been launched almost...
"Perception" Coming To XB1, PS4, & PC 5/30/17
Horror-Adventure 'Perception' From Deep End Games & Feardemic Set to Blindside Players on May 30, 2017 Dim the lights and grab your safety...
Awesomenaughts Now Free To Play On Steam
Awesomenauts, the 2D sidescrolling MOBA, is now available for free on Steam! We've spent years preparing for this and are ready to welcome a...
More Titanfall 2 Content Dropping Next Week
Monarch Titan Falls into Combat Players ready for more Titanfall 2 content will not have to wait long. The latest DLC from Respawn...
Crackdown 3 Release Set For Later This Year
May 23rd, 2017 0
Crackdown 3 which was announced during E3 2014 may finally be releasing this year. The official account for the game just confirmed it's 2017 release...
The Walking Dead: A New Frontier Episode 5 Out May 30
May 22nd, 2017 0
Telltale has officially confirmed the release date for Episode 5 of A New Frontier. It will be released on May 30 for PS4, Xbox One, PC, iOS, and...
Bundle Stars "Killer Bundle 9" Launches With 8 New-To-Bundle Steam Games
May 4th, 2017 0
Killer Bundle The wait is over. It's a brand new Killer Bundle! With 8 NEW-TO-BUNDLE Steam games, and an average rating of 81%, save big with this...


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Posts Tagged 'Taxation'
The Republicans' Phony Patriotism
Posted: October 16, 2019 in Livin' in the USA, Politics
Tags: Courage, Donald Trump, Entrepreneurship, Equal Opportunity, Erdogan, First Amendment, Freedom of Speech, Hillary Clinton, Honduras, Honduras coup, Independence, ISIS, Kurds, Loyalty, Molly Ivins, Obama, Patriotism, Republicans, Syria, Taxation, Turkey, U.S. Constitution, Westboro Baptist Church
(First off, not all of those who voted for Trump in 2016 fall into the following category, only 75% to 80%. The remaining 20% to 25% were justifiably disgusted with the do-nothing policies of Obama/Biden/the Clintons that had left them totally screwed over economically, and just wanted to shake things up. If you're among them, please realize that you are not who I'm talking about. I'm talking here about the real true believers, Trump's personality cultists. There's no reasoning with them, and it's time to call them out for what they are.)
We've all seen 'em, assholes driving around in land-raper pickups wearing MAGA hats, flying huge American flags. Using the symbol that's supposed to stand for individual freedom and equal opportunity as a stand-in for preening jingoism, butt kissing of their glorious leader, and intimidation of those they disagree with.
They're utter, total phonies. They systematically betray everything America is supposed to stand for.
Let's look at specifics:
Freedom of speech. They beat protesters at Trump rallies, and show up bearing assault weapons at anti-Trump demos to intimidate protesters (as at Charlottesville — and thank god for Redneck Revolt showing up equally well armed to oppose them). On a more mundane level, Trump routinely attacks the press — about the only real check on the misdeeds of the powers that be — as "enemies of the people," and god help you if you refuse to participate in the mass domination/submission spectacle at the start of ballgames.
Equality of Opportunity/Self-reliance. We're talking about a moron who managed to bankrupt casinos, who had a silver spoon protruding from every orifice at birth, and who started receiving an "allowance" or $200,000 a year at age three — and in all a total of over $400 million from his dad. Trump is the proverbial entitled brat who was born on third base and has been bragging ever since that he hit a triple. And his sycophantic followers admire him for it.
Independence. Republicans/Trump supporters (there's almost no distinguishing between them at this point) are slavish members of a personality cult. Trump famously bragged that he could murder someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and his base would continue to support him. He was right, but it's worse than that. He could strangle a puppy and sodomize its corpse on national TV, and his base would praise him for it, saying how "out of the box," "what a different kind of president" he was. If sucking up to Dear Leader and excusing every one of his crimes is "independence," Trump's supporters would win a gold medal.
Mercy. Trump puts children in cages and separates them from their parents. The members of his personality cult applaud this vicious behavior precisely because it is so vicious. All too many of them like to hurt people. They do it vicariously through Trump, and feel self-righteous about it.
Your Tired, Your Poor. Somehow the powers that be and their tools have convinced idiot Trumpistas that people even poorer and more powerless than they are are the cause of their misfortunes. These fear-driven dumbasses actually believe that desperate people fleeing horrendous conditions in Central America are somehow threatening them. (Many of the refugees are fleeing Honduras — thank Hillary and Obama for that one with their support of the coup there in 2011, and the installation of the narco Hernández regime) Trump's followers concentrate their hate on these powerless scapegoats who just want work and safety for their families, while supporting a billionaire parasite who's never done a single day's work in his life.
Fairness. Republicans support a system in which the three richest men in the United States own more of the wealth than the bottom 50% of the population combined, and in which unearned income is only taxed at half the rate or earned (through work) income. They support a system that is rigged in favor of the rich. They're also so deluded that they think that a billionaire con man is somehow on their side, and that he somehow personifies the American spirit. To quote a sign I saw yesterday (carried by a goofball at the corner of First Avenue and Ft. Lowell), "God delivered Trump to us." If so, the Westboro Baptist Church must be right, and god really must hate America.
Loyalty. The orange cancer just capitulated to Turkish Islamist tyrant Erdogan and betrayed America's only true ally in the Middle East, the Kurds. They lost over 11,000 soldiers fighting ISIS, and Trump just sold them out. As a result, there are already mass civilian casualties, over 100,000 have fled the Turkish invasion/bombardment, ISIS captives have been freed en masse, and America's reputation is in shreds. Of course, the bootlickers in his personality cult will somehow find a way to praise him for this.
Courage. Then there's Cadet Bonespur's draft exemption during the Viet Nam War. There were reasons in abundance to avoid involuntary servitude during that imperialistic crime against humanity. Somehow, one suspects, Trump's draft avoidance had nothing to do with principled reasons. On a more contemporary level, Trump routinely doesn't even have the guts to take responsibility for his own actions. The latest example is his refusal to take responsibility for betraying the Kurds, insisting, even after his capitulating phone call to the Turkish thug whose tanks then rolled into northern Syria, that he's somehow not responsible for that, and in fact opposes it. If he'd actually opposed it, he wouldn't have pulled back US troops and wouldn't have told Erdogan it was okay to invade Syria. (It's a very good bet that most Republicans in both the House and Senate are well aware of this and are disgusted by it. But they've placed their own political fortunes, currying favor with the Trump cultists, above what's good for the country. How patriotic.)
Trump's cultists are the seamy underside of America: they're the authoritarian 25% or so of the American people who give lip service to American ideals, wrap themselves in the flag, and then betray everything the flag is supposed to stand for. Their motto might as well be "Sieg Heil Y'all." (with a tip of the hat to the late Molly Ivins, who ages ago came up with that most apt phrase)
Our Best Posts (Economics, Gardening, Interviews, Journalism)
Posted: September 28, 2019 in Civil Liberties, Economics, Gardening, Interviews, Journalism
Tags: "Yelling Fire" fallacy, Cord cutting, Distribution of wealth and income, Fox News, Inefficiency of capitalism, John Grant, Larry "Bubbles" Brown, Mick Berry, MSNBC, Productivity, T.C. Weber, Taxation, Wage inflation, Work week
We hit 100,000 views a few days ago, and to celebrate (if that's the right word) we're listing the best posts we've published over the years, divided by category. Here's the second installment. The third will be the first of the Humor installments, and it'll focus purely on jokes.
The "Yelling Fire" Fallacy
A Few of the Ways Working People Get Screwed in Trump's America
"Wage Inflation" — What do these code words mean?
Why the Work Week Should Be Much Shorter
Productivity, Wages, and Distribution of Wealth and Income
Unfair Taxation
Wasted Tax Money
The Inefficiency of Capitalism
The Basics of Economic Justice
How to Make Yourself Popular in Friends' Vegetable Gardens
Interview with Two-time Hugo Winner John Grant
Interview with T.C. Weber, author of Sleep State Interrupt
Interview with Standup Comic Mick Berry
Interview with Standup Comic Larry "Bubbles" Brown
Is MSNBC as bad as Fox News?
So, Clinton lost. Now what?
Posted: November 9, 2016 in Economics, Livin' in the USA, Politics
Tags: 2016, Abortion, Amanda Marcotte, Barack Obama, Contraception, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democratic Party, Donald Trump, Fascism, Fascist movements, Foreign policy, Global warming, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, Immigration, LGBT rights, Medicare, Obamacare, Racism, Reproductive Rights, Republican Party (United States), Social Security, Supreme Court, Surveillance state, Taxation, Trade policy, Wikileaks
Back in April, I wrote a post titled "Hillary Clinton is all but Unelectable (against any sane opponent)." It turns out she couldn't even beat an insane opponent.
Four days ago, I wrote another post: "If Clinton loses, who's to blame?" focusing on the betrayal of low-income working people by the corporate-servant Democrats (Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer, Donna Brazile, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Diane Feinstein, et al.) who've controlled the Democratic Party for decades.
Clinton's water carriers will undoubtedly dismiss such analyses and will instead focus on such things as corporate money in politics, the Republican propaganda machine (Fox, Breitbart, Infowars, etc.), and Trump's racial scapegoating. You'll see plenty of these in-part-correct analyses in the days to come.
You'll also see plenty of pieces by Clinton apologists drawing all the wrong conclusions about Clinton's defeat. For a spectacular example of such wrong-headed analysis, see "The Misogyny Apocalypse" by Clinton cheerleader extraordinaire, Amanda Marcotte.
Rather, I'd argue that you can't screw people economically for decades, make it harder and harder for their children to attend college, ridicule them, and then pretend that you're their friend. There are consequences for this type of behavior. Meet President Trump.
I've covered these matters extensively in posts over the last few years–just check the Economics category and search the site for posts on Obama and Clinton–so let's let this go for now and examine what might happen under the Trump administration.
First the negative:
Immigration. Trump based his campaign on racism and anti-immigrant scapegoating. Here, unfortunately, he's likely to deliver. Obama has been "the deporter in chief." Trump will be worse, probably far worse.
Taxation. Trump wants to reduce the corporate tax rate to 15%, reduce individual income taxes across the board, and eliminate the estate tax. These things will lead to massive deficits (similar measures did under Bush the Lesser).
Global Warming. Trump is, at least publicly, a climate-change denier. Expect no action in this area.
Environment. Expect more air pollution, more water pollution, less regulation (including food-quality regulation — lack of which is already a national scandal), more fracking, more despoliation of public lands, especially in the West.
Supreme Court. One can only shudder at what's to come here: corporate-friendly, anti-individual-rights, religious extremists (a la Scalia and Alioto).
Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, "Obamacare": Trump made repeal of "Obamacare" a centerpiece of his campaign. Expect grossly inadequate measures in its place ("competition across state lines," individual health savings accounts, vouchers), expect millions to lose access to healthcare, and expect at least tens of thousands to die unnecessary deaths because of this dismantling of already-inadequate public healthcare.
Ayn Rand worshipper Paul Ryan is itching to dismantle Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. Expect some movement in that direction. Expect Republicans to cut benefits for both Social Security and Medicare beneficiaries, perhaps eliminate Social Security as we know it for workers under the age of 45 (or 35 or 55), to at least attempt to replace Social Security with some sort of individual-investment plan (which would leave the bottom 50% or so of workers s.o.l.), and perhaps to eliminate Medicaid outright.
Reproductive Rights. Expect continued assaults on the right to abortion and even access to contraception. If Trump appoints more than one member of the Supreme Court, expect repeal of Roe v. Wade
TBGL Rights. Expect a slew of "religious freedom" measures, both federal and state, to institutionalize discrimination.
Emboldened Racists/Fascists. The KKK endorsed Trump, and in his election campaign he repeatedly endorsed and even urged thuggish behavior. Expect fascists and racists to engage in public intimidation, including physical attack, of political opponents and expect a spike in racist murders of black and hispanic people.
Where it's a wash:
The Surveillance State. Despite his professed admiration for Wikileaks during the campaign, one can assume that that admiration was entirely hypocritical. Like Clinton would have, Trump will almost certainly continue the war on whistle blowers and the mass, intense surveillance of all of us.
Now the good news:
Believe it or not, there is some.
Foreign Policy. Given Clinton's history of poor judgment, arrogance, war-mongering, support of coups (Honduras 2009), friendship with a notorious war criminal (Henry Kissinger), abject servility to the Israeli extreme right, support of repressive Islamist regimes (most notably Saudi Arabia), and bellicosity toward Russia, it's hard to imagine Trump being worse. He might even end up being somewhat isolationist, which would be a marked improvement over the disastrous Bush/Obama/Clinton interventionist foreign policy.
Trade Policy. The TTP is dead. Clinton would almost certainly have pushed it, under the cover of minor changes that would have "met her objections." Trump might push for repeal of NAFTA and other previous trade deals. But at this point, the damage from these deals is largely done. Trump might also push for protectionist trade policies, which is worrisome from two standpoints: 1) They primarily benefit corporations, who reap profits as consumer prices rise; 2) Trade wars sometimes precede real wars.
Still, rejection of further "free trade" agreements (they're not; they're highly managed trade agreements) is a step in the right direction.
Decline of the corporate, status quo Democrats. The engineers of the Trump/Clinton disaster will almost certainly decline in influence within the Democratic Party, and one hopes, though probably in vain, that they'll be driven out of town on a rail. If Clinton had won, they'd still be riding high, they and their Republican co-conspirators would continue to screw working people economically, and Republicans would continue to point to the White House while pretending that they weren't equally if not more culpable.
With Clinton and her corporado friends having delivered victory to the most grotesque major-party presidential candidate since Andrew Jackson, there will be a war for control of the Democratic Party between progressives and the servants of the corporations and 1%. This is good news: the progressives might win.
No full-blown Fascist Movement. If Clinton had won, and the economic situation of working people continued to fester, popular anger would have continued to build, with blame falling on Clinton and the Democrats. This increasing populist anger could all too easily have taken the form of an organized fascist movement. As is, the fascists remain a small, disorganized faction.
Following Trump's victory, the pressure driving the growth of fascism is off. There will be fascist thuggery and murders in the upcoming years, but fascist factions will likely remain small and disorganized.
Trump won't deliver on his economic promises. He can't. His policies virtually guarantee that life will get worse for most Americans, which means he'll likely be a one-term president. Of course, when things go south, Trump will likely fall back on racial and immigrant scapegoating. But fewer people should buy it.
When at least a substantial portion of his followers realize that Trump and the Republicans have betrayed them–as they inevitably will–and if the corporate Democrats are ousted, real change could and likely will follow.
Let's just hope it's change for the better.
And let's do what we can to make it so.
Our First 1,000 Posts — Best Economics Posts
Posted: September 25, 2016 in Capitalism, Economics
Tags: Alternative currencies, Ayn Rand, Cost-shifting, Distribution of Income, distribution of wealth, Donald Trump, Economic Irrationalities, Inefficiency of capitalism, Military spending, Minimum wage, Objectivism, Productivity, Self-made man, Taxation, unemployment
We put up our 1,000th post a little over a week ago. We're now looking through everything we've posted, and are putting up "best of" lists in our most popular categories.
This is the sixth of our first-1,000 "best of" lists. We've already posted the Science Fiction, Humor, Music, Interviews, and Addictions lists, and will shortly be putting up other "best ofs" in several other categories, including Anarchism, Atheism, Politics, Religion, Science, and Skepticism.
Best Economics Posts
The Food Crisis
Donald Trump and Self-made Men
Why the Work Week Should Be Much Shorter (Part I–productivity, wages, the distribution of wealth and income)
Why the Work Week Should Be Much Shorter (Part II–unfair taxation)
Why the Work Week Should Be Much Shorter (Part III–wasted tax money)
Why the Work Week Should Be Much Shorter (Part IV–the inefficiency of capitalism)
Why the Work Week Should Be Much Shorter (Part V–Conclusion)
Capitalism and Human Behavior
Solar Dollars
Objectivism
Anti-Minimum Wage Madness
Don't Call Them Libertarians
Quote of the Day 9-12-16 (on Apple)
Posted: September 12, 2016 in Capitalism, Livin' in the USA
Tags: Apple, Apple fan boys, iPhone, Tax avoidance, Taxation, Tim Cook
"Every fall the internet and its resident tech mumblers congregate for The Apple Event, a quasi-pagan streaming-video rite in which Tim Cook boasts of just how much money his company is making (a lot) and just how much good it's introducing to the world (this typically involves a new iPhone). This is merely annoying most years; but in 2016, when Apple is loudly, publicly denying its tax obligations around the world, it's just gross."
–Sam Biddle, "Paying Taxes Is a Lot Better than Phony Corporate Courage, Apple," on The Intercept
Religion and Taxes: Freeloading at Its Finest
Posted: February 6, 2015 in Livin' in the USA, Religion
Tags: Property Taxes, Tax Breaks, Taxation
(Excerpted from Chapter 7 of Culture Wars: The Threat to Your Family and Your Freedom, by Marie Alena Castle)
"When a religion is good, I conceive it will support itself; and when it does not support itself, and God does not care to support it—so that its
professors are obliged to call for help of a civil power—it is a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one."
Public frustration has, once again in a recurring political scenario, reached the "throw the bums out" level over government deficits and an economy in free fall. There is much agonizing, blaming, and demonizing over the need to cut spending and/or increase taxes, with little agreement on where and how to do it. Yet, one potential major source of revenue—tax exempt organizations—is seldom mentioned, much less acted upon. Over the years, as a political activist, I have had discussions about religious tax exemptions with many politicians. All understood the problem, even expressing eagerness to tax religious institutions and musing about ways to do it, but all concluded that (as one former U.S. senator admitted to me), "Anyone who told the truth about taxes could never get re-elected." There certainly are many nonreligious aspects of our tax system that are questionable, but given our First Amendment's religion clauses, we should not be paying higher taxes so religions benefit by paying nothing.
We need to hear the truth, and this is it. Death and taxes are not certain, only death is certain. Those who are classified as tax exempt and escape taxes are primarily religious, educational, and charitable nonprofits. For religious organizations, there is not only escape from taxation, but complete lack of financial accountability. Secular nonprofits have to file a financial report annually with the IRS; religious organizations do not. Generally (there are state-specific variations), religious organizations pay no state or federal income taxes, no sales, gas, car, or excise taxes, no user fees, no inheritance taxes, no taxes on investments, stocks, mutual funds and bonds, no capital gains taxes on the sale of property, and no property taxes to cover the cost of fire and police protection, libraries, and schools. Religious organizations don't even have to verify to the IRS the donations taxpayers claim on their income tax forms. Related businesses, such as religious bookstores, biblical and creationist theme parks, schools, hospitals, fitness centers, recreational facilities, and campgrounds are tax exempt. (About the only things religious institutions have to pay taxes on are any completely unrelated commercial businesses they might own, such as shopping centers and hotels.) They receive these exemptions simply because they're religious. There is no secular justification for these exemptions, and they compromise the economic wellbeing of everyone else.
The law of unintended consequences never applied so well as it does to the decision to exempt religious institutions from taxation. These exemptions lead one to think that the cynical quip,"No good deed goes unpunished" has some truth in it. As our nation grew and state constitutions began to allow tax exemptions, churches received them, more or less as a charitable gesture, since in the early years of this country most churches were too small and poor to easily pay taxes.
As churches grew, exemptions were considered justified because churches dispensed charity, augmenting that of community poor houses and county poor farms. (The social safety net—Social Security, unemployment insurance, and later food stamps, Medicare and Medicaid—didn't exist until the New Deal in the 1930s; so, the charitable work of churches was much more important in the 19th century than it is today.) But then, through bequests, business investments and gifts from wealthy donors, religious institutions began prospering immensely. With wealth came power and influence, and so, through political pressure, the exemptions grew and grew. Today almost nothing churches do can be taxed, even when they generate millions of dollars of income and return little or nothing of value to the community. What began with some justification now borders on being criminal.
Efforts to bring this unfair situation under control are as old as the initial tax exemptions, which began in the 1830s. Numerous pieces of state and federal legislation have been introduced since then to end the preferential treatment of churches, but to no avail. In 1874, the issue had become such a matter of public concern that James Garfield (later President Garfield) addressed Congress on the matter. He said:
The divorce between Church and State ought to be absolute. It ought to be so absolute that no church property anywhere, in any state, or in the nation, should be exempt from equal taxation; for if you exempt the property of any church organization, to that extent you impose a tax upon the whole community.1
In 1875, President Ulysses S. Grant also addressed Congress. He came bearing a 900-foot-long petition with 35,000 signatures of people opposed to tax exemptions for religious institutions. He said:
I would also call your attention to the importance of correcting an evil that, if permitted to continue, will probably lead to great trouble in our land . . . it is the accumulation of vast amounts of untaxed church property. . . . In 1850, the church properties in the U.S., which paid no taxes, municipal or state, amounted to about $83 million. In 1860, the amount had doubled; in 1875, it is about $1 billion. By 1900, without check, it is safe to say this property will reach a sum exceeding $3 billion . . . so vast a sum, receiving all the protection and benefits of government without bearing its portion of the burdens and expenses of the same, will not be looked upon acquiescently by those who have to pay the taxes. . . . I would suggest the taxation of all property equally, whether church or corporation.2
There have been a number of such efforts in my state, Minnesota, to end religious tax exemptions; none of them have been successful. The situation here is fairly typical, so it's worth considering.
In the 1970s, an amendment to Article X of the Minnesota Constitution passed by over 70 percent to allow taxing the business operations of churches. The amendment was supported by a coalition of business associations and labor unions. Despite the overwhelming popularity of this amendment, it has never been implemented.
In 1987, Minnesota Governor Rudy Perpich proposed eliminating the sales tax exemption of nonprofits and got nowhere. In 1988, Rep. Tom Osthoff sponsored a bill in the Minnesota legislature that, as reported in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, would have:
[R]emove(d) $4 billion in property tax exemptions, which would have raised $180 million and cut homestead taxes by an average of 7.3 percent statewide, according to a study by Minnesota House researchers. The bill would have taxed hospitals, nursing homes, nonprofit organizations other than churches and schools, civic centers, arenas, auditoriums, leased airport property, college property not used for education, and residential property owned by churches, educational institutions and governments. Church property was included in everything except possibly the civic centers, arenas, auditoriums and airport property. To no one's surprise, the bill failed.3
And in 1989 I was involved in getting Article X implementation language into the tax bill. The bill was pulled at the last minute (according to my legislative contact) due to political pressure by religious institutions. Nothing of note has happened on the state level since then.
On the federal level, in 2011, U.S. Senator Charles Grassley, a Republican representing Iowa, opened a Senate Finance Committee investigation of the financial irregularities of several mega-ministries run by "prosperity gospel" televangelists. These preachers occasionally make the news by living over-the-top lavish lifestyles, with mansions, private jets, yachts, air-conditioned dog houses, and other luxuries. Grassley, although a religious-right supporter who shares the religious beliefs of his targets, has tried to stop these tax exemption abuses, but has succeeded only in publicizing their excesses, which is certainly a good thing in itself.
However, for reasons best known to himself he dropped financial inquiries into mega-churches in favor of supporting legislation that allows them to engage in political activity while retaining their tax exemptions.4 At the same time, he started going after nonprofit hospitals, whose tax exempt status is based on providing a certain amount of charity care. An October 15, 2011, news report by Tony Leys in the Des Moines Register detailed Grassley's efforts and the effect on taxpayers when "nonprofits" profit from unjustified tax exemptions. Leys writes:
[M]ore than $1.9 billion worth of hospital property in Iowa is tax-exempt, state records show. If those hospitals were normal businesses they would pay more than $58 million in annual property taxes, which would help fix roads, hire teachers and keep police on the beat. The result: Everyone else pays higher taxes because of such exemptions.5
As for the free care, Leys adds:
[Iowa's 46 nonprofit] hospitals made nearly $295 million after expenses, about three times the amount of free care provided to patients too poor to pay. Fifteen of the hospitals provided less than 1 percent of their overall expenses in free care to the poor. Only 11 hospitals provided free care equal to 2 percent or more of their expenses. . . . nonprofit foundations are required to spend 5 percent of their assets on charitable activities per year.
Churches, of course, are not required to spend anything on charity, despite the huge incomes of the larger churches. Any significant charity they provide is normally funded by the government under contract, and by other public entities such as the United Way.
The most serious obstacle to eliminating church and secular nonprofit tax exemptions has been the 1970 Supreme Court decision in Walz v. Tax Commission of the City of New York. The justices ruled 8 to 1 that exempting churches from taxation was a benevolently neutral accommodation—although neutrality by definition can be neither benevolent nor malevolent.
Part of the Walz decision was based on the assumption that churches do charitable work and contribute to American culture. But many do little or no charitable work, and of those that do, anything significant is often paid for by government grants and/or private foundations and civic organizations. Many businesses do more good (as anyone who has faced a car breakdown or plumbing disaster knows), but they are not tax exempt.
As for culture, the most notable contribution from religious organizations in recent decades has been a divisive culture war. While some churches may do some good, many of them do far more harm than good. Every chapter in this book exposes a body of theology-based laws that victimize all of us in some way, while causing damage that requires tax dollars to remedy. (To cite but one example, consider the costs of unwanted children resulting from restriction of both abortion and contraceptive availability.)
What is often overlooked about the Walz ruling is that it did not say (as many suppose) that churches must be tax exempt, only that they could not be denied tax exemption if secular nonprofits were exempt. States were free to tax or exempt all or none. The states chose to exempt all.
Because secular nonprofits want to keep their tax exemptions, religious organizations are no longer the sole beneficiaries of this unfair system, but they play a major part in keeping it going. They are, in fact, the primary movers in keeping the system in place. Although Walz v. Tax Commission did not say churches cannot be taxed, the ruling is often understood to mean that taxing churches violates the religious freedom clause of the First Amendment. If it did, we'd have a schizophrenic First Amendment that, on the one hand, prohibits an establishment of religion (so that no one is forced to carry these freeloaders) while, on the other hand, guaranteeing freedom of religion (so that everyone is forced to carry them). Such are the political contortions this nation struggles with to keep religious institutions fat and happy, regardless of the burden this places on everyone else, religious or not.
Property Taxes: We Pay More Because They Pay Nothing
Tax inequities show up most clearly and affect most people directly in real estate taxes. In every community, government provides certain services: fire and police protection, road and bridge repair and maintenance, street cleaning, emergency response, education and recreational facilities—all these and more if we are to have what we call civilization.
Local governments assess property taxes to cover these expenses, but only on some property. Those with a property tax exemption get all the benefits of a city's services but pay nothing. That revenue shortfall is made up by the rest of us, who pay more. Of this group, owners of business and commercial real estate can pass their tax costs on to customers and clients. Homeowners and renters cannot. For them there is no way out. They must cover the shortfall created by the tax exempt while also paying higher prices to cover the taxes on business property. This can be especially hard on senior citizens, whose retirement income is usually far below their former income.
Given the difficulty of taxing churches, some proponents of tax fairness have suggested charging churches a service fee for the many city services they enjoy at taxpayer expense. Some cities have tried this, but the churches put up such a fight that the efforts have not succeeded. To their credit, there are religious organizations that, at least occasionally, voluntarily pay a fee to cover their use of public services. For example, in 1967, the minister of the First Universalist Church of Minneapolis wrote a lengthy editorial for the (then-named) Minneapolis Star pleading for his fellow religionists to reject church tax exemptions as a threat to their integrity and religious freedom. He detailed instances of church wealth that he considered unconscionable. Almost nothing came of his efforts.6
However, his views have received some support. The 1988 Star Tribune report on tax exemptions referred to earlier noted that Augsburg Publishing House (owned by the Lutheran church) donated about $325,000 between 1975 and 1988 to the City of Minneapolis for the services it received.7 Also, St. Olaf College and Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, donated about $20,000 a year for services, in addition to donating larger amounts for special projects, such as a hospital and an ice arena. I have heard of Unitarian-Universalist churches doing the same thing. These donations, of course, indicate the huge amount of money available to fund city services and lower everyone's property taxes if all property was taxed.
How much lost revenue must homeowners and renters make up to cover the tax exemption shortfall? In Minnesota, for example, tax exempt property statewide is valued at $84 billion.8 In Minneapolis, one-fourth of the property is tax exempt; in St. Paul one-third is. (The difference is due to St. Paul being the state capital, and thus having many government buildings). This is probably typical among all the states.
Preacher Perks
The clergy even get tax exemptions just for being clergy. This goes back to 1954, when Cold War hysteria caused our elected officials to put religious bigotry in many forms into law as a barrier against "godless communism" (details in Chapter 9). The legislator who proposed the clergy exemption, Rep. Peter Mack Jr., a Democrat from Illinois, explained it this way:
Certainly, in these times when we are being threatened by a godless and antireligious world movement, we should correct this discrimination against certain ministers of the gospel who are carrying on such a courageous fight against this foe. Certainly this is not too much to do for these people who are caring for our spiritual welfare.9
There's no discernable secular purpose in this rationale, since tax-exempt clergy could hardly affect the Soviet Union. This added tax exemption did, however, affect U.S. taxpayers, who had to make up for the lost revenue.
A former Episcopal priest, Dick Hewetson, reported on the clergy exemption in Freethought Today, the newspaper of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF):
I have an income tax break that most members of FFRF do not share. Because I receive a pension from the 11 years that I served as a clergyman, a portion of that income is not taxed. It is called my "housing and utility allowance." It goes back to a tax law that allows clergy pay to be divided into two separate categories: salary plus housing and utility allowance. The latter amount is excluded from federal tax. It is not included on Form W-2 as taxable income (although it can show up, with an explanation, in Box 14 of the W-2). Wouldn't you like it if your employer could divide your pay like this? Well, god is not on your side.
The tax code has been amended at least twice. In 1971 the Internal Revenue Services limited [tax exempt income of clergy to cover housing] to the "fair market rental value" of the furnished home, utilities included. Evidently, some god-fearing clergy were accepting housing and utility allowances above the amount they actually paid! . . . To add insult to injury, if clergy own homes, they can still deduct their real estate taxes and interest on their mortgage payments . . . Remember that the money they are paid for their home expenses is not part of th[eir] taxable income.
In the Oct. 11, 2006, New York Times, reporter Diana B. Henriques wrote: "The tax break is not available to the staff at secular nonprofit organizations whose scale and charitable aims [are comparable] . . . or to poorly paid inner-city teachers and day care workers who also serve their communities. The housing deduction is one of several tax breaks that leave extra money in the pockets of clergy members and their religious employers. Ministers of every faith are also exempt from income tax withholding and can opt out of Social Security. And every state but one exempts religious employers from paying state unemployment taxes–reducing the employers' payroll expenses but also leaving their workers without unemployment benefits if they are laid off."
A Vermont clergyman, Jay Sprout, wrote in the May 8, 2002, Christian Century: "The question this issue always raises for me is, what principle? The principle that ministers are entitled to a tax break available to no other taxpayers except, I believe, certain military personnel? I am not eager to pay more tax than the law requires and have received thousands of dollars of benefits, thanks to the housing tax break for clergy. But I have never understood why I should enjoy such a privilege or why church institutions should be so vigilant in their efforts to protect this tax advantage. Jesus was particularly critical of religious authorities and others who claimed special status in society. Can you imagine 'the son of Man [who had] nowhere to lay his head' living in a house worth $80,000 a year?"
. . . I am sure that you agree with me that this is a totally unfair situation. I have always said that I do not object to paying taxes. I do object to paying taxes in an unfair way. And this tax code is definitely unfair.
Now, getting back to the fact that I still get the break. Because I receive a pension from the church, any amount up to what I pay for rent and utilities is not considered taxable income. Don't you wish you were in my shoes? Hey, it's legal.10
What Hewetson didn't mention was that this benefit allows clergy to buy several homes tax free. For example, a millionaire minister who bought a $408,638 second home at a lake in Tennessee got the clergy exemption on that in addition to his first home, courtesy of a favorable ruling by the U.S. Tax Court. Then there were the clergy housing allowances granted eight members (including five from the Robert Schuller family) of Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral Ministries in California that amounted to an annual total benefit of $832,000. Congressional budget records show that the total cost to taxpayers for this largesse is about $500 million a year.
1. Stated as a congressman in 1874; Congressional Record, vol. 2, part 6, p. 5384.
2. Message to Congress, Dec. 7, 1875; Congressional Record, Vol. 4, part 7, p. 175.
3. "Taxing question of who's exempt again faces state," by Robert Franklin, Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 14, 1988.
4. "Grassley Withers Under Religious Heat" by Joseph L. Conn, Church & State, February 2011.
5. Tony Leys, "Hospitals avoid taxes despite little free care," Des Moines Register, October 15, 2011.
6. "Taxes and Church Duty" by Rev. John Cummins, Minneapolis Star, March 6, 1967.
8. "Billions in value, zero in taxes," by Chris Havens, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Feb. 6, 2011, p B1.
9. Quoted in Freethought Today, June–July 2011. p. 24.
10. "Ex-Priest Still Gets Special Dispensation from IRS" by Dick Hewetson (reprinted with permission), Freethought Today, April 2010, p.3.