Where no one has so much power that they can dominate others

Brother came for a visit of just over 48 hours. I very much enjoy his visits, even when brief. Brother likes to do home improvement projects. I showed him that my bedroom extends outward so that a strip a couple feet wide doesn’t have basement under it. Brother commented the insulation between the floor joists didn’t look like enough. So we bought a roll of thick insulation batting. In pulling out the old stuff Brother found some of it had been chewed and had lots of leaf litter. Yup, a few holes in the concrete and gaps between facing boards. So we bought caulk and he used that and some quick dry mortar which I happened to have. Alas, the temperature was too cold for applying the caulk and he still felt a draft. The new bats are in place. The next time he visits he’ll redo the caulk. Yeah, I accumulated a bunch of browser tabs while Brother was here. Alas, many may have to wait while I summarize the latest on Ukraine – and some of that story has been in browser tabs too. On Tuesday Mark Sumner of Daily Kos reported that Putin declared two eastern provinces to be “independent” and he could take them over. Sumner included a video of the Kenya ambassador to the UN Security Council explains what Putin’s aggression means. I didn’t watch it, though mention it to show how much the whole world is watching Putin and knows what he is. Also on Tuesday Sumner explained what was going on that day. Then he noted, building on comments by opposition leader Alexei Navaldy, that the invasion of Afghanistan in 1980 led to the collapse of the USSR. Will Putin’s invasion of Ukraine lead to the collapse of support for Putin? Sumner then noted that some American news companies appear to be taking Putin’s side. An editorial on the Wall Street Journal said Putin “outfoxed” western leaders. And the New York Times repeated Putin’s claims that Ukraine has always been an integral part of Russia. To that last point the US Embassy in Kyiv tweeted pictures of important churches that were built before 1108 – when Moscow was still undeveloped woods. Later on Tuesday Sumner wrote that Russia can’t afford war. Russia may have the 11th largest economy, but that is with a GDP of $1.6 trillion, compared to the US at $19.5 trillion and China at $12.2 trillion. Per capita that is $11,566 for Russia and $53,366 for the US. Like any tyrant Putin fears his populace. If he really thought he was popular and represented a majority he would hold free elections. Russia’s economy is heavily dependent of fossil fuels. And that money doesn’t go into growing and diversifying the economy. Russian’s are pessimistic of their future because of that lack of growth. An army in barracks doesn’t cost very much. An army in the field is horrendously expensive with supply lines to feed, arm, and shelter troops. There is also the cost to maintain vehicles and aircraft. Putin has bragged he has a stockpile of financial reserves. But with strong sanctions the reserves will eventually be used up. On Wednesday evening Sumner posted that Russia has invaded Ukraine. Not just from the eastern provinces it claimed on Tuesday, but from the north and south as well. This post was updated through the early morning hours with videos of various parts of the attack and of tweets from world leaders and news sources. There is also mention of the Moscow stock exchange suspending trading because it dropped so fast and the ruble also dropping by quite a bit. This Thursday morning Sumner posted again, and again with lots of videos. Sumner noted: Putin claimed he was invading to engage in “denazification” of Ukraine – which many Ukrainian parents and grandparents did in WWII. That lie is vile because Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish. Finland is asking to join NATO. Yes, the Ukrainian military is sustaining damage – but so is the Russian military. There was a battle in the Chernobyl exclusion zone and Russia captured the old power plant. The melted reactor core there is well covered and unlikely to be disturbed. Ukrainians are lining up to enlist in the defense forces. Protesters gathered across Russia. The protest in St. Petersburg was large. In an early afternoon post Sumner liveblogged Biden’s speech. This war is not going to end in days. In an afternoon post Sumner included more videos and: The list of the latest sanctions. The Moscow stock market had dropped 33%, erasing $200 billion in wealth. The Ukrainian defense forces are having some success, such as keeping control of the Hostomel Airport. Aysha Qamar of Kos reported on the anti-war protests in Russia, both in person and on social media. Some protests have been quite large. The protesters know this is risky and many are arrested. If the Russian police know about them they may be arrested as soon as they leave home. Protesters may not be arrested for protesting, instead for violating COVID restrictions. Laura Clawson of Kos wrote about arrests of protesters. Chitown Kev, in a pundit roundup for Kos included a series of tweets from Hayes Brown of MSNBC. The UN Security Council has been meeting to discuss the invasion. Russia is one of five countries with permanent membership on the UNSC with veto power over any UNSC resolution. Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN, challenged Russia’s seat. The UN Charter says the permanent members are China (Taiwan), Britain, France, USA, and USSR. Not Russia. And the USSR seat was not properly turned over to Russia. The process in which China replaced Taiwan wasn’t quite proper, even though it went through the General Assembly. Russia replacing the USSR didn’t even get a General Assembly vote. Kev says this is a gutsy move by Ukraine. If it comes to a vote China is likely to veto it. Brandi Buchman of Kos hopes Europe is ready to receive Ukraine’s refugees who are already clogging roads heading west. Crossings into Poland and Hungary are ready to receive refugees, though just three crossings are likely to not be enough. All but Britain appear ready to welcome Ukrainians. Even some American lawmakers are trying to show their welcome. Aldous Pennyfarthing of Kos pondered the question of why didn’t Putin invade Ukraine during the reign of the nasty guy? The effort might have been so much easier at a time when the nasty guy was working to wreck NATO. Instead, the invasion is happening after Biden worked to unite NATO. The reason is that Putin was expecting the nasty guy to win again (and had provided help to make it happen). In a second term, with the nasty guy unlocking all the doors from the inside, a takeover of Ukraine would have been even easier, followed by Putin’s pick of other Eastern European countries. Rich Lowry, editor of the National Review, claimed that Putin didn’t invade during the nasty guy years because the nasty guy was too unpredictable. Steve Schmidt, an ex-Republican strategist, rebukes Lowry’s claim. The nasty guy is very predictable – ready to sell out America for nothing but flattery. In a post from yesterday Sumner lists some of the things Republicans are saying in support of Putin. And that the whole thing is Biden’s fault. Sumner wrote:

When they’re not spreading the news that Putin is strong, Biden is weak, and that the United States has no interest in promoting democracy, defending nations against aggressors, or upholding our word to allies, Republicans have taken some time out to make it clear that Ukraine totally deserves it. That “corrupt” that Kirk tossed into his statement was no coincidence. It’s how Republicans are describing Ukraine in statement after statement. ... It’s not that Republicans don’t want a war. It’s that they’re already waging one—against democracy in the United States.

They just don’t want the Ukraine war to distract from their own war. Janne Korhonen of Finland tweeted a thread on Tuesday explaining the war from Finland’s point of view. Finland had been a part of the Russian Empire until 1917. From the speech Putin gave on Monday Korhonen says Putin’s goal it to recreate that Russian Empire. Putin doesn’t really fear NATO. What he fears is the Russian people decide to get rid of him. And democracies show that an alternative is possible. That’s why Putin and his formidable propaganda machine have been trying to undermine the European Union and supports the far right in Europe and America. A divided or corrupt West would benefit Putin. Yielding to Putin means a country isn’t really democratic. The people will choose candidates acceptable to Putin. And Putin gains power. That could mean the end of democracy in Finland. So many in Finland are now asking to join NATO. In another thread Korhonen wrote:

I would very much like that every human had the same or better opportunities I've had. But that requires a fair and just sharing of resources. Which necessitates a fair sharing of power, and limits to the powers of individuals. That is, radical democracy. ... The goal should be a society where no one has so much power that they can dominate others, nor so little they can be dominated.

After all that grim news we need a smile, such as this 10 second video of father and son.

Architecture that is hostile to the homeless

Chad Loder is founder and CEO of Habitu8, a company that creates videos of security awareness. In a Twitter thread he documents architecture that is hostile to the homeless. This includes:

* Benches with “armrests” in the middle of the seat to so homeless people can’t sleep on them, benches that are not flat, and where the seat can get folded up and locked at night. The most annoying are benches with intermediate arms that are painted with pride colors or such benches with advertising signs that say, “Homelessness kills” – such cognitive dissonance.

* Areas under bridges with lots of spikes or unnecessary bike racks.

* A place in Paris that installed several vertical metal poles. A homeless person threw a board and mattress on top of them.

A commenter added what looks like a slogan from British Conservatives: “We plan to cut all homeless people in half by 2025.” Umm…

Another commenter shows a bench from RainCity Housing. Part of the back of the bench folds up as a roof.

Sabra Boyd commented about the Seattle sculpture of “Homeless Jesus” appearing to sleep on a bench – which prevents a real homeless person from sleeping there.

Fionna O’Leary linked to her thread about how Helsinki handles homelessness – they’re put into city owned housing. The city has 60,000 social housing units. It also runs its own construction company. Each district of the city must have a strict mix of social and private housing to limit social segregation. It also insists on no visible external differences between public and private housing.

That linked to an article by John Henley in The Guardian about what Helsinki did. The city leaders realized that shelters and short-term hostels were not getting people out of homelessness.

As in many countries, homelessness in Finland had long been tackled using a staircase model: you were supposed to move through different stages of temporary accommodation as you got your life back on track, with an apartment as the ultimate reward.

“We decided to make the housing unconditional,” says [program leader Juha] Kaakinen. “To say, look, you don’t need to solve your problems before you get a home. Instead, a home should be the secure foundation that makes it easier to solve your problems.”

Sleeping on the street is now rare. But just giving people a home doesn’t work. Most need a large number of services for addictions, mental health issues, and medical conditions. Some need to relearn basic life skills.

Finland spent 250 million euros creating these new homes and hiring 300 more support workers. But savings in emergency healthcare, social services, and the justice system saves 15,000 euros for each person now in properly supported housing. However, this means the city actually must have the housing.

There is also the preventive side. There are teams to help tenants from being evicted and becoming homeless.

A rake to the Finnish

The nasty guy has been claiming that the horrendous damage by fire in Northern California is because the forests have not been properly managed.

When the nasty guy was in Europe meeting heads of state Sauli Niinistö, president of Finland make a comment that it is a land covered by forests and they have a good monitoring system. “We take care of our forests.” Of course, coming out of the mouth of the nasty guy it got mangled. He said Finland spends “a lot of time raking and cleaning” their forests.

That prompted the Twitter hashtag #haravointi (raking). The Finns responded with various images of them raking and mocking. Some examples of what was posted (at least in English):

“Rake America Great Again” / “Make America Rake Again”

“Rake News!”

“Rake against the Machine” (photo of a rake leaning on a garden tractor).

A video of a man raking a beach to prevent sea level rise.

A photo of a woman in the forest with a vacuum cleaner.

A suggestion that synchronized raking be added as an Olympic sport.

“Here in Canada we have automated with our forest Roomba.”

“I have been so wrong! I thought we were suppose to drain the swamp. No! We are suppose to rake the forest. Thank God we do not have to rake the swamp. That would be so dangerous.”

“Rake, Rake against the dying of the light.” Apologies to Dylan Thomas.

“A rake to the Finnish.”

And one more: two men using a giant comb on the desert.

Leah McElrath, in a Twitter thread, talks about the magnitude of the destruction of the Camp Fire did to the town of Paradise, California. Workers are sifting through ash to find bone shards of people who didn’t make it out.

Then McElrath wrote:

Trump deceptively pushes a land “mismanagement” narrative because he is laying groundwork to privatize public lands/expand logging. When you hear Trump or any Republicans talk about “forest management” or “land management” in relation to these wildfires, you need to replace the words with “expanded logging company access” or “privatization of public lands.”
...
There is no indication forest “mismanagement” played any role whatsoever in the #CampFire. That is simply false.

Commenters add: The forest is managed by the Secretary of the Interior – a person who works for the nasty guy. The mismanagement claim fits the conservative narrative that the government can’t do anything right, so let the private sector do it.

Deeply comic

Friday evening I went to the Detroit Film Theater to see the movie The Other Side of Hope, directed by director Aki Kaurismaki of Finland. It was described as “deeply comic” and rated rather high, so I gave it a chance.

The story is topical. Khalid has escaped the war in Syria and is applying for asylum in Helsinki. He is also looking for his sister who got separated from him during their travels. One of the locals is Wikstrom, a guy who has had enough of selling shirts to clothing stores. He gets someone to buy out his inventory and uses that to buy a small restaurant. He got it cheap because the three employees haven’t been paid in three months. Of course, Khalid and Wikstrom meet up.

The characters and situations are a bit eccentric such as attempts to liven the restaurant to make it more profitable. But the humor is droll to deadpan to subtle to lost in translation. I smiled some and laughed a bit. It was OK, but not the laugh festival I anticipated with a description such as “deeply comic.”

Finland!

The Finnish Parliament voted 105-92 to legalize same-sex marriage. It is the last of the Nordic countries to do so. Alas, it will take them about a year to get all the laws revised properly, so no actual marriages until 2016.



When the Supremes struck down bans of interracial marriage there were only 16 states where it was still illegal. They struck down laws against gay sex when only 13 states still had such laws. It seems the Supremes are willing to tackle an issue when two-thirds of the states have already approved it. Two-thirds of 50 is 33. Same sex marriage is currently legal in 35 states. Does the magic ratio still hold up?

Finland is getting close

In Finland if the citizens collect at least 50,000 signatures Parliament must consider the issue (though they may not approve it). So the "I Do" campaign collected signatures to force Parliament to take up marriage equality. They got 50,000 in one day last March. They have currently over 162,000 with the deadline this Thursday. They have already collected more signatures than any other citizen-backed initiative. Considering the whole country has only 5.4 million people this is an impressive campaign. So I think Parliament will be busy.

Marriage equality around the world

Norway and Sweden have marriage equality. Finland doesn't. Earlier this month a marriage equality bill came before a committee in the Finnish Parliament (I think) and was voted down. Apparently, if 50,000 Finns sign a petition they can force a bill to the floor of the Parliament. They hit that target -- in one day. Demand was so high it crashed the website collecting names.



David Coss, Mayor of Santa Fe, New Mexico saw that the state's marriage law is gender neutral -- it doesn't say "one man and one woman." So Coss is introducing a resolution to the City Council to declare marriage equality legal in the state and county clerks better get cracking in issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.

Geraldine Salazar, the Santa Fe County clerk, appreciates the enthusiasm of Mr. Coss, but will wait for a ruling from the state Attorney General.

If it were only so easy in Michigan.



Here's the current map of marriage equality around the world. There are signs (as above) that this version will be obsolete soon.

That military survey is biased

There is now an online survey to gather comments from military personnel about the gay ban. One needs a military ID to access it. Fundies in the military can comment all they want about the gay ban. Gays in the military cannot without exposing themselves to dismissal. And nobody is asking gay spouses for input the way they're talking to soldier's wives and husbands.



Finland! Their gay marriage bill passed unanimously.



I've seen the statue known as the "Touchdown Jesus" along I-75 south of Dayton. Hard to miss, actually. But not anymore. The statue, made of Styrofoam, wood, resin, and steel, was struck by lightning last night and burned. Was this an Act of God? Many who were fond of the statue think so. If so, what message way God trying to convey? Um… Insufficiently anti-gay? An odd way of saying so. Condemnation of their ex-gay ministry? God striking down an idol? Or is the message simply that one shouldn't create statues out of flammable materials without installing a lightning rod?

The giant sign on the other side of the highway for the Hustler Hollywood adult bookstore is still intact.