When you control the power, you have all the power

In the mid-1990s, voters in the upstate New York city of Glens Falls rejected a proposal to create a municipal power corporation, of the kind 47 localities in NYS now have. The then-Niagara Mohawk spent a lot of money propagandizing against the referendum so as to preserve its monopoly. 

When multinational National Grid proposed to buy Niagara Mohawk, it was sold as a good deal for customers, who would allegedly benefit from the larger corporation's resources and economies of scale. Customers have never seen one iota of benefit from this merger, but plenty of pain.

The TOTAL rate for the public electric utility in Massena in northern New York is less than the DELIVERY ONLY rate that National Grid charged this month (even before you pay for the actual electric supply). Assuming the municipal utility's website is correct, residential electric rates in Massena have remained the same since 1997 (around the time GF resident's rejected a similar utility).

Right now, individual towns, villages or cities can form their own municipal power corporation, if they feel like spending millions in legal fees to fight National Grid and its ilk. In 2010, a proposal in the New York state legislature would have allowed smaller municipalities to band together to form regional power corporations. The bill appears to have withered on the vine. I wonder why.

Christians rejecting Christ, part 9349

"When I give food to the poor, I'm called a saint. When I ask why they are poor, I'm called a communist." -Archbishop Dom Helder Camara.

The Atlantic's website had a really interesting article regarding US Christians, Jesus and the death penalty. It cited research related what American Christians thought Jesus Christ's opinion on capital punishment would have been.

Personally, I suspect he would've been against execution for two reasons. First, he was, unlike so many Christians in this country, consistently pro-life. And, he had first-hand experience of how easily an innocent man can be murdered by the state.

But that's not the part that really intrigues me.

The article cited polling which found that only 10% of American Christians as a whole (and only 2% of Catholics) believe Jesus would've supported capital punishment.

Yet the Pew Forum found that a comfortable majority of white Christians supported the death penalty. Smaller numbers of black and Hispanic Christians supported the death penalty but the figures (in the 35-ish percent range in both cases) were still several times higher than the number who thought Jesus Himself would support the practice. It found that 71% of Republicans, the party most associated with the fusion of Christianity and politics, supported the death penalty.

The overwhelming majority of Americans believe Christ would have opposed capital punishment. The overwhelming majority of Americans claim to be Christian. The overwhelming majority of those Christians reject the position that they themselves believe their own Prophet would've taken.

I used to assume that religious beliefs instructed personal beliefs. Increasingly, I'm starting to think that one's personal beliefs dictates one's religious beliefs more than the contrary.

Mississippi's indifference to born children

"When I give food to the poor, I'm called a saint. When I ask why they are poor, I'm called a communist." -Archbishop Dom Helder Camara.

Supporters of Mississippi’s strict new anti-abortion law are breaking their arms patting themselves on the back, gushing with their pride at supposedly protecting the health andwell-being of the state’s unborn.

But what about the born? 

Born children in the state have the highest poverty rate in the WORLD among children in developed countries. 

Born children in the state have the highest infant mortality rate in the country. 

Born children in the state have the highest obesity rate in the country. 

Born children in the state have the highest illiteracy rate in the country (tied with New Mexico).

 

Born children in the state have thehighest teen pregnancy rate in the country (which I guess they want to preserve).

To politicians in Mississippi, the fate of the unborn is important. 

Maybe one day, the most Christian state in the country will trouble itself to spend an ounce of energy worrying about children who are already born.

I don’t think I’ll hold my breath.

 

What would Jesus do?

"When I give food to the poor, I'm called a saint. When I ask why they are poor, I'm called a communist." -Archbishop Dom Helder Camara.

What would Jesus do?

Good question.

My guess is that he would NOT steal the meager possessions of homeless people.

I’ll also go out on a limb and suggest that he wouldn’t bloviate on the “sanctity of marriage” and then say a man was justified in divorcing his wife forwithholding sex.

 

Why should you pay money for newspapers?

Glancing at a copy of The Post-Star in Stewart’s today, I got a good insight as to why the industry is struggling. 

Grand pooh-bahs like Ken Tingley, so eager to pat themselves on the back, intone that newspapers are still valuable because of one thing: editorial judgment. You can get news for free in countless places. But what distinguishes the newspaper from the “Internet” is editorial judgment. That vaunted editorial judgment of the paper allegedly ensures that’s what's published in a newspaper is not only accurate and verifiable but also relevant to its audience. Editorial judgment is why they charge you a dollar.

The editorial judgment of the local Post-Star deemed worthy of front page coverage four stories today. One was about whether 4/20 should be a legal holiday in Colorado. One was the Vatican welcoming an Easter crowd. And one was about the Zimbabwe regime seizing land.

This is what the paper’s leadership thought would be relevant enough to entice upstate New Yorkers to view their product as good value for money.

The only local story was about a historic clock in Saratoga Springs.

Suffice it to say, I did not view this as worth a dollar of my hard earned money.

How hideously inefficient is our health care system?

How hideously inefficient is our health care system? 

As this graphic from the Wall Street Journal illustrates, over 22% of the taxes you pay goes to health care. 

And most Americans are required to find money on top of this to pay for private insurance (now mandatory, a historic first, under Obamacare) as well as treatment. 

At least if we had Medicare for All, our tax money would be spent in a far more rational and efficient way.

Responding to disasters in urban areas vs rural ones

This essay is part of an occasional feature on this blog that presents compelling stories from elsewhere in the world, particularly Africa, that are little reported in the American media. It's part of my campaign to get people to realize there is a lot going on in the world outside the US, IsraelStine and the Trumped Up Enemy of the Month. A list of all pieces in this series can be found found here.

The IRIN news service has a good piece about how responding to the devastation wrought by disaster in urban areas offers very different challenges than responding to disasters in more rural areas. Worth a read.

When 'Never again' happened again

This essay is part of an occasional feature on this blog that presents compelling stories from elsewhere in the world, particularly Africa, that are little reported in the American media. It's part of my campaign to get people to realize there is a lot going on in the world outside the US, IsraelStine and the Trumped Up Enemy of the Month. A list of all pieces in this series can be found found here..

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the Rwandan genocide during which at least 800,000 people were murdered. It was one of the world's worst atrocities of the century and certainly the worst to be covered during the age of cable news television. It occurred a year, almost to the week, after politicians and dignitaries in Washington solemnly promised 'Never again' while inaugurating the Holocaust Memorial Museum.

In 2004, I wrote a long series of essays on the occasion of the 10th anniversary which gave a lot of information and background about the genocide.

They are as follows (yes, I know the images do not work):

-Ten years later (an intro)
-Pre-genocide history
-How the genocide unfolded
-Myths and realities about the genocide (Part 1)
-Myths and realities about the genocide (Part 2)
-The genocide's orphans
-Hate media and their role in the genocide
-International law and American law on genocide
-Post-genocide justice
-The post-genocide government
-Lessons and conclusions