Year: 2019

economy

Real Estate Development – a local story –

December 16, 2019 Comments Off on Real Estate Development – a local story –
We generally don’t report or comment on local affairs here at AmericanDelusions. But, the craziness of real estate development in Greenport, the town that surrounds our hometown of Hudson, illustrates a downside of our market centered economy working in an environment where whatever the market wants it gets. The Greenport Planning --->> read more -->>
empire

How America Tortures – a new report with drawings and a movie

December 13, 2019 Comments Off on How America Tortures – a new report with drawings and a movie
 How America Tortures by M. P. Denbeaux, & Seton Hall University. (2019) This report includes eight drawings by Abu Zubaydah, a Guantanamo detainee, illustrating his experiences during torture sessions. Abu Zubaydah is also a figure in the movie discussed below. This report is really a short book, some 95 pages --->> read more -->>
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environment

The Great Recycling Con video story – recently noted

December 9, 2019 Comments Off on The Great Recycling Con video story – recently noted
The New York Times published this video 12/8/2019. Over 90% of “recycleable” plastic materials in the consumer marketplace end up in landfill dumps. A fraud fomented by the plastics and retail marketing industry. Note: There is a ten second ad before the story begins.
politics

A Window into the Minds of Conservatives – The Bulwark

November 20, 2019 Comments Off on A Window into the Minds of Conservatives – The Bulwark
It is a continuing source of amazement and consternation that most conservatives and evangelical Christians support Trump. So many of his character features would seem to be inimical to both of these groups. We won’t list them here since that is hardly necessary.  Trump demonstrates them on a daily if --->> read more -->>
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free-market ideology

Recently Noted – challenging views of Justice Clarence Thomas – the intractable nature of white racism

October 15, 2019 Comments Off on Recently Noted – challenging views of Justice Clarence Thomas – the intractable nature of white racism
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been famous and more than a bit of an outlier in American life from the moment he came on the public stage over the summer of 1991. Today I noted an interesting book review by Harvard sociologist Orlando Patterson in the October 4, 2019 --->> read more -->>
environment

Recently Noted – Your Burger vs. Transatlantic Flight – how much CO2?

October 4, 2019 Comments Off on Recently Noted – Your Burger vs. Transatlantic Flight – how much CO2?
The New Yorker published “Value Meal: Impossible Foods wants to save the world by inventing a better burger” by Tad Friend in the 9/30/2019 issue. During the introductory paragraphs the following statistic was cited: Every four pounds of beef you eat contributes to as much global warming as flying from New --->> read more -->>
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racism

Slavery in Hudson – updated

September 14, 2019 Comments Off on Slavery in Hudson – updated
9/12/2019 A lecture at the Hudson Area Library tonight, Slavery and Dutch-Palatine Farmers: How did middle class farmers in Colonial New York interact with slavery?’ by Travis M. Bowman. The lecture began with the note that slavery in NY state lasted for over 200 years – from 1625 when the --->> read more -->>
environment

A Major Shift in Emphasis – the environment

September 6, 2019 Comments Off on A Major Shift in Emphasis – the environment
Friday 9/6/2019 Over the last several months I have been working on a restatement of the fundamental characteristics of the capitalist system. In doing this I have been thinking afresh about the current crisis of global warming and the surrounding environmental disasters of species extinction and the general defacement of --->> read more -->>
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empire

Recently Noted – Overthrow: 100 Years of US Meddling & Regime Change, from Iran to Nicaragua to Hawaii to Cuba

August 22, 2019 Comments Off on Recently Noted – Overthrow: 100 Years of US Meddling & Regime Change, from Iran to Nicaragua to Hawaii to Cuba
We’ve written quite a bit about the US Empire. A key component of this US foreign policy is regime change. Here is a list of the posts here on this topic. Recently Democracy Now! ran a 22 minute discussion of the history of US regime change actions over the last --->> read more -->>
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education

Recently Noted – busing, re-segregation, white supremacy

July 17, 2019 Comments Off on Recently Noted – busing, re-segregation, white supremacy
The recent controversies surrounding Joe Biden’s anti- school busing collaborations with racist politicians from the south has for the moment aroused new comment on segregated America. The New York Times published an excellent review of the history of school desegregation by Nikole Hannah-Jones, “It Was Never About Busing: Court-ordered desegregation worked. --->> read more -->>
The Monopolization of America video by Robert Reich
economy

Recently Noted – Robert Reich on breaking up Big Tech – a limited view

June 26, 2019 Comments Off on Recently Noted – Robert Reich on breaking up Big Tech – a limited view
Robert Reich is continuing his series of brief YouTube videos on progressive view of the economy. This is a good introduction to the arguments for re-invigorating our protections against monopolies. However, the problem is much more widespread than just the high tech industry. We’ve written about this broader phenomenon in --->> read more -->>
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economy

Monopoly and Facebook – as told by Facebook’s co-founder

May 9, 2019 Comments Off on Monopoly and Facebook – as told by Facebook’s co-founder
The May 9th NYTimes has an Op-Ed essay, It’s Time to Break Up Facebook, by Chris Hughes, the co-founder of Facebook, calling on the government to break up that company. The essay is very thorough in describing the current monopoly behavior of Facebook, the deleterious effects on competition and vigor in --->> read more -->>