Skirball will host NYU Global Distinguished Professor of German, Slavoj Žižek

https://www.nyunews.com/2018/08/26/arts-skirball-fall-season-show-preview-appears-to-be-promising/

[…]

Calling all thinkers: as part of the Karl Marx Festival running from Oct. 17 to 28, Skirball will host quirky Slovenian philosopher and NYU Global Distinguished Professor of German, Slavoj Zizek. The night will be dedicated to a discussion of a Marxist view of the commons — a collection of spaces shared by the public rather than owned by the individual — and how it applies to the current digital age. The discourse will continue with an analysis of late Marx theorist and Soviet politician Leon Trotsky’s execution of the October Revolution and its links to Marxism. This rare opportunity to probe the mind of a fascinating, prolific philosopher is one that beckons to be seized.

[…]

Trump Administration Helped Banks Rip Off Student Borrowers, Official Alleges

BY Michael Corcoran

Truthout

https://truthout.org/articles/trump-administration-helped-banks-rip-off-student-borrowers-official-alleges/

The Trump administration’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau(CFPB) suppressed a report with “new evidence” that some of the nation’s largest banks were saddling students “with legally dubious account fees,” according to the bureau’s outgoing ombudsman for student loans.

The ombudsman, Seth Frotman, made this allegation as part of a broad critique included in his resignation letter, which he sent to director Mick Mulvaney on August 27. The bureau has “turned its back on young people and their financial futures” while “protecting bad actors” in the lending business, the letter alleges.

“You have used the bureau to serve the wishes of the most powerful financial companies in America,” Frotman wrote, addressing Mulvaney. “The damage you have done to the bureau betrays these families and sacrifices the financial futures of millions of Americans in communities across the country.”

Frotman’s resignation letter sheds light on a pair of very important problems: a student debt crisis that has put millions of Americans in financial peril at the hands of bad-faith lenders, and the Trump administration’s internal dismantling (with help from GOP legislators) of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and complete disregard for consumer protections in general.

“The CFPB has become a cruel joke under the current administration,” said Alan Collinge, founder of Student Loan Justice, in an interview with Truthout.

“People being preyed upon by their student loans had better be looking elsewhere for help. At this point, they are pretty much on their own.”

1,000 First Responders Urge Congress to Restore Net Neutrality After Verizon Throttles California Firefighters During Wildfires

"It is unconscionable for corporations to endanger public safety for the sake of profit."

by Julia Conley, staff writer

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/08/28/1000-first-responders-urge-congress-restore-net-neutrality-after-verizon-throttles

More than 1,000 first responders from across the country threw their support behind net neutrality protections on Tuesday, with a letter demanding that lawmakers in Congress pass the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to reverse the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s repeal of net neutrality.

"We are joining with millions of businesses, veterans, and Internet users in asking Congress to use their Congressional Review Act (CRA) powers to restore the strong net neutrality rules and other consumer protections that were lost when the FCC voted to repeal its 2015 Open Internet Order," reads an letter endorsed by the internet freedom advocacy group Fight for the Future.

The letter comes days after Californians got a first-hand look at how their lives are already being affected by internet service providers (ISPs) that are unencumbered by net neutrality rules, which prohibit companies like Verizon and Comcast from slowing down internet speeds and creating paid "fast lanes" for wealthy internet companies.

As Common Dreams reported last week, Verizon throttled, or slowed down, data speeds for the Santa Clara County fire department and suggested it should pay an extra fee for faster service—while fire fighters were battling some of California's biggest wildfires ever earlier this summer.  

Verizon's move "had a significant impact on our ability to provide emergency services," according to fire chief Tony Bowden, and the throttling resulted in a loud endorsement of California's state-level net neutrality bill (SB 822), which the state Assembly could vote on as early as Tuesday, by the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) union.

The incident provoked emergency workers from California as well as other states to urge the passage of the CRA.

"Our call paging system relies on private ISPs to relay information from 911 dispatchers to ambulances—it is unconscionable for corporations to endanger public safety for the sake of profit," said Corey, a paramedic in San Diego, in a personal note added to the open letter.

"EMTs rely on data to receive pages, vital paperwork necessary for patient care, and to help locate calls outside of our service area," added Larry, an EMT based in Little Rock, Arkansas. "Throttling speeds can delay care and cost lives."

If 9/11 Attacks Can Spark Trillions in War Spending, Asks Ocasio-Cortez, Why Can't US Find Funding for Puerto Rico 'Marshall Plan'?

"The U.S. treats Puerto Ricans as second class citizens," notes the ACLU. "Thousands of lives were lost because of it."

By Jessica Corbett, staff writer

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/08/28/if-911-attacks-can-spark-trillions-war-spending-asks-ocasio-cortez-why-cant-us-find

A study commissioned by the Puerto Rican government has found that an estimated 2,975 people died after Hurricane Maria devastated the U.S. territory last year, corroborating previous analyses that have long challenged the official death toll of 64 and bolstering calls that the American government provide substantially more aid to help with rebuilding efforts.

Acknowledging the new findings from George Washington University on Tuesday, progressive New York congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez turned to Twitter to demand a "Marshall Plan" for Puerto Rico and a "just transition" to a renewable energy system that would replace the existing "unstable and unreliable power grid," which faced operational and financial issues even before the storm struck.

Ocasio-Cortez is one of the many political figures—along with Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Jeff Markey (D-Mass.), as well as Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.)—to urge Congress and the Trump administration to significantly step up relief efforts. In a follow-up tweet, she promoted a one-year anniversary event in New York City to amplify the work of grassroots groups on the island:

Attendees will include Emily Yeampierre of the organization UPROSE as well as author and activist Naomi Klein, who have both warned about "shock doctrine" tactics being deployed on the island. As Klein has written about extensively and explained on Democracy Now! in March, the strategy has been used in "many other disaster zones" and involves "exploiting that state of shock and distraction and emergency to push through a radical corporate agenda."

As the island struggles to rebuild, news reports from the ground have captured the long-lasting devastation, while various analyses have estimated the actual death toll to be in the thousands. One such study put out by Harvard researchers in late May concluded that between 4,645 and 5,740 people died due to the hurricane.

In light of the new report, which sought to update the official government death toll by measuring deaths on the island between September 2017 to February 2018, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) pointed to the United States' long history of treating the residents of Puerto Rico as second-class citizens:

Some Democrats in Congress, noting the new report, highlighted the Trump administration's widely criticized response to the hurricane and the humanitarian crisis that followed. Rep. Barbara Lee (Calif.) called federal action "inadequate" and "shameful," while Rep. Val Demings (Fla.) denounced it as "an inexcusable failure."

Rep. Nydia Velázquez, (D-N.Y.), who has introduced legislation to establish federal standards for calculating death tolls after disasters, said in a statement, "Once again, we have yet more mounting evidence about the enormity of the tragedy that befell Puerto Rico last year."

"Notably, this study also confirms that lower income communities disproportionately suffered the greatest loss of life," Velázquez added, emphasizing that the "disastrously inadequate" response from the U.S. government "failed the people of Puerto Rico and we can never allow such an inexcusable moral lapse to occur again."

The Battle for Control of the Democratic Party is heating up in Arizona

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc8DkqUVCRw

ACLU Defends Nazis' Right To Burn Down ACLU Headquarters

https://politics.theonion.com/aclu-defends-nazis-right-to-burn-down-aclu-headquarters-1819567187

NEW YORK—At a press conference Monday, American Civil Liberties Union officials announced that the organization will go to court to defend a neo-Nazi group's right to burn down ACLU headquarters.

ACLU lawyers Nancy Edelman and Harvey Gross talk to reporters about their fight to allow Nazis to burn down ACLU headquarters on Nov. 25.

ACLU president Nadine Strossen told reporters that her organization intends to "vigorously and passionately defend" the Georgia chapter of the American Nazi Party's First Amendment right to freely express its hatred of the ACLU by setting its New York office ablaze on Nov. 25.

"I am reminded of the words of Voltaire: 'I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,'" Strossen said. "While the ACLU vehemently disagrees with the idea of Nazis torching this building, the principle of freedom of expression must be supported in all cases. If we take away these Nazis' right to burn down our headquarters, we take away everyone's right to burn down our headquarters."

Buddy Carver, president of the Georgia chapter of the American Nazi Party, praised the ACLU for taking on his case. "I would like to thank Ms. Strossen and all the other nigger-loving bleeding-heart liberals at the 'ACL-Jew' for defending my constitutional right to express my loathing of them with hundred-foot-high flames," said Carver, sporting a tan uniform and swastika arm band. "We must finish the job Hitler was unable to."

ACLU associate director Mel Rosenblatt agreed. "The real danger here is not the American Nazi Party," he said. "The real danger here is what would happen to the rest of us if the Buddy Carvers of this world were not allowed to commit arson against nigger-loving, bleeding-heart-liberal Jew attorneys."

Making the case all the more controversial is the neo-Nazis' demand that the ACLU's entire 315-person staff be in the building at the time of the blaze. Strongly opposing the request are New York City police commissioner William Bratton, fire chief Ed Holm and mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who said that all 315 will die if trapped in the 47-story building during the blaze. ACLU attorneys responded that they will request a federal appeals hearing if the City of New York attempts to stop them and their fellow ACLU employees from perishing in the Nov. 25 blaze.

"Yes, my loving wife Linda and three wonderful children, Ben, Robby and Stephanie, will be devastated when I am killed next month," ACLU attorney Harvey Gross said.

"But I recognize that, in a very real sense, it would be a victory for Mr. Carver and his fellow hatemongers if I did not burn to death, because their terrible message of bigotry and intolerance would be all the more effective if suppressed."

The Carver case is one of several controversial legal battles with which the ACLU has been involved this judicial year. In State of California v. Tubbs, the organization defended the right of a San Francisco art gallery to display a piece of performance art in which innocent passersby are shot to death by gunmen. In February, the ACLU went to U.S. Appeals Court to defend the Grand Wizard of the Coahoma County, Mississippi, chapter of the Ku Klux Klan's right to beat a black man to death and spray-paint 'White Pride' across his chest.

"We can have no arbitrary setting of limits when it comes to the Bill of Rights," Strossen said. "The Constitution does not say, 'You have the right to express these opinions, but not those opinions.' Nor does it say, 'You can express these opinions by word, but not by violence.' For a free society to work, hatred, in all its forms, must be encouraged."

God Answers Prayers Of Paralyzed Little Boy

https://www.theonion.com/god-answers-prayers-of-paralyzed-little-boy-1819564974

'No,' Says God

SAN FRANCISCO–For as long as he can remember, 7-year-old Timmy Yu has had one precious dream: From the bottom of his heart, he has hoped against hope that God would someday hear his prayer to walk again. Though many thought Timmy's heavenly plea would never be answered, his dream finally came true Monday, when the Lord personally responded to the wheelchair-bound boy's prayer with a resounding no.

Wheelchair-bound Timmy Yu, who finally received his long-awaited reply from God.

"I knew that if I just prayed hard enough, God would hear me," said the joyful Timmy, surrounded by stuffed animals sent by well-wishing Christians from around the globe, as he sat in the wheelchair to which he will be confined for the rest of his life. "And now my prayer has been answered. I haven't been this happy since before the accident, when I could walk and play with the other children like a normal boy."

God's response came at approximately 10 a.m. Monday, following a particularly fervent Sunday prayer session by little Timmy. Witnesses said God issued His miraculous answer in the form of a towering column of clouds, from which poured forth great beams of Divine light and the music of the Heavenly Hosts. The miraculous event took place in the Children's Special Care Ward of St. Luke's Hospital, where Timmy goes three times a week for an excruciating two-hour procedure to drain excess fluid from his damaged spinal column.

Said Angela Schlosser, a day nurse who witnessed the Divine Manifestation: "An incredible, booming voice said to Timmy, 'I am the Lord thy God, who created the rivers and the mountains, the heavens and the earth, the sun and the moon and the stars. Before Me sits My beloved child, whose faith is that of the mustard seed from which grows mighty and powerful things. My child, Timmy Yu, I say unto you thus: I have heard your prayers, and now I shall answer them. No, you cannot get out of your wheelchair. Not ever."

Paralyzed in a 1996 auto accident that also claimed the lives of both his parents, Timmy has served as a shining example to his fellow churchgoers at Lord In Heaven On High Church, inspiring others with his simple, heartfelt devotion. Now that Timmy has received an answer, Christians the world over are celebrating his story as a stirring testament to the power of faith.

"The Lord has answered a little boy's plea to know if he would ever walk again, and that answer was no," Rev. H. Newman Gunther of the San Francisco School Of Divinity said. "For years, this boy had been plagued by the question of whether or not he would ever walk, and now Our Lord, in his wisdom and mercy, has forever laid to rest any lingering doubt. Young Timmy can rest assured in the immutable truth that the Lord has bestowed upon him. Now and for all time, he finally knows that he will never escape the cruel prison of his chair of iron, for God hath willed it so. Praise be to God!"

God.

Asked for comment, God said: "This kind-hearted child's simple prayer hath moved Me. Never before have I seen such faith. His trusting soul, so full of innocent devotion to Me, hath offered seventy times seven prayers asking, 'God? Can I please walk again?' It was indeed right and fitting that I, in My infinite wisdom, should share with him the One True Answer to this long-repeated question he put before Me."

"My will be done," God added.

Witnesses to the miracle said Timmy begged God for several minutes to change His mind and heal his shattered vertebrae, but the Lord stood firm.