Politics is the Law | The Hearing Heard Around The World | Embracing & Loving Debt

Most politicians come from a legal background. Many aspiring politicians pursue a legal career just so they can become politicians. So why would some people assume that the highest levels of the legal profession would be devoid of political biases, viewpoints, and fighting? The law is simply a manifestation of political winners and losers.

If you want to change the law, the best way to do it is through politics. This is what the powerful, elite, and rich have always known. If you think our economic, racial, gender, or healthcare laws are wrong, then change the laws. And if you want to change the laws, then change the politicians. And if you want to change the politicians, then you have to vote. And if you want to change how people vote, then you change their opinions (like the Russians did on social media and why politicians spend hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising). And if you want to change opinions, then you need to be heard. And if you want to be heard, then you need to have your content and ideas distributed. And if you want your content distributed, then you need to own the “cables and channels.” And this is why internet and cable companies are so powerful. They control the pipes through which information flows and what information you see. And if you want to control the pipes, then you need to have money. Money, distribution of ideas, law, and politics. They are all different sides of the dice.

In other parts of the world, the military is part of the dice but thankfully in the United States, the military is a nonplayer domestically. And if you think everything (law, money, politics, etc…) is muckety-muck, then you start a revolution (e.g. Mao, Lenin, Ho Chih Minh, Toussaint Louverture, Pol Pot, Gandhi, Simón Bolívar, George Washington, etc…).

Almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.” – Robert A. Heinlein

The Hearing Heard Around The World: On Thursday Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in a hearing that lasted almost nine hours. Ford, a psychology professor from California, had come forward to be questioned on her allegations that when the two were in high school in the early 1980s, a drunken Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her while his friend watched. Ford told senators she had suffered in silence for years after the incident, finally telling a few close friends, her fiance, and later therapists as she attempted to deal with the lingering effects of crippling anxiety and post traumatic stress. When she learned this year that Kavanaugh was on a short list of possible Supreme Court nominees, she became increasingly concerned, and thought it was her civic duty to inform someone although she wanted the information to remain confidential. Reporters ferreted out her story in early September; after almost two weeks of intense negotiations between Republican committee members and Ford’s attorneys, both she and Kavanaugh spoke under oath Thursday.

The 11-member, all-male GOP majority had refused to ask for an FBI investigation into Ford’s allegations, or to invite any other witnesses to the hearing, hoping to make the argument that it was simply a “he said-she said” situation. The men even hired a female sex-crimes prosecutor from Arizona to question Ford for them. Regardless, Ford appeared authentic and completely believable. Her testimony was riveting and utterly convincing, and despite not being able to recall some details like the exact date or location, her memory was crystal clear about what had happened to her and who was responsible. Her testimony was so credible, in fact, it was reported that President Trump was deflated, and considering whether to withdraw Kavanaugh’s nomination. Committee Republicans were grim-faced.

When it was Kavanaugh’s turn, he came out swinging. Alternating between choking back intense emotions and lashing out in anger, the judge was defiant and denied virtually everything. He spoke for almost 45 minutes, casting himself as the victim of a political smear campaign driven by monied left-wingers and Clinton election-loss revenge seekers. He kept repeating what sounded like pre-packaged talking points, and refused over and over to say he would welcome an FBI investigation that could clear up some of the details Ford wasn’t able to recall, and get reluctant witnesses under oath and on the record. President Trump was reportedly elated over Kavanaugh’s explosive self-defense, and Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley seemed determined to push forward with a Friday vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

Thou Shalt Not Not: The adultery law just struck down by India’s Supreme Court had been on the books for 158 years, enacted during British colonial rule. The court said the law was arbitrary; it treated men and women differently, and gave the husband license “to use the woman as chattel.” The decision is the latest by an increasingly activist court that has done far more than politicians in recent years to reorder sexual mores and advance gender equality in a deeply conservative, but rapidly modernizing society. (NPR)

Killer Whales Are Being Killed: Killer whales are the top predators in the oceans, and due to toxic and persistent pollution, at least half the population is doomed to extinction, according to a major new study. PCBs, which continue to leak into the seas, become concentrated going up the food chain, making orcas the most contaminated animals on the planet. Although among the most widespread mammals on earth, killer whales have already disappeared from the North Sea, around Spain and many other places. Among those most at risk are the UK’s last pod, where a recent death revealed one of the highest PCB levels ever recorded. (Guardian)

Additional read: “Beluga Charms British With Impromptu Visit: A beluga swimming in the Thames is undoubtedly rare, and a social media frenzy ensued.” (NPR)

Coming To ABC This Fall: India’s Supreme Court is one of its most important public institutions. It currently has 25 judges who sit in panels of two or three across about a dozen courtrooms. Unlike the US Supreme Court, which hears only about 70 cases a year, various panels of the Indian Supreme Court hear up to 700 legal matters a day. Anyone who wants to appeal to the country’s highest court has the right by law to a hearing there. The court loves weighing in on juicy social debates that politicians run away from. Thursday the court struck down a colonial-era law making adultery a crime; earlier this month it overturned a ban on gay sex that had stood for 150 years. But cases could just as easily be about wild dogs, killer tigers, mob lynchings, garbage dumps or Muslim divorce rules.

Every day of the week courtrooms are a blur of briefcases, stacks of paper files, and black-robed lawyers standing 15 feet deep waiting to present their cases. India’s Parliament is split by fierce divisions along caste, religious and regional lines; elected public servants are known for squabbling a lot and accomplishing little, all the while stealing billions of taxpayer rupees. As a result, public interest litigation has exploded.

America Must Have Received A Liberal Arts Degree: America is having to borrow more money to keep up with its fast-growing debt, worsened by tax cuts and steadily rising interest rates. Already the fastest-growing major government expense, the cost of interest is on track to hit $390 billion next year, nearly 50 percent more than in 2017. By 2023, interest payments on the federal debt could surpass the Defense Department budget. Within a decade, more than $900 billion in interest payments will be due annually. (NYT) Good luck fixing the nation’s crumbling roads and bridges, or pulling the economy out of future recessions. The American government is just like all of us, the American people. We are all overindulging in debt and irresponsible managers of money. There will undoubtedly be a debt hangover.

The Worst Flu Epidemic: According to the CDC, Influenza killed roughly 80,000 in the 2017-2018 season, with the previous high being 56,000. This may have been because less than half the US population received their flu shot (although that number is pretty constant every year). Officials have been attempting to figure out how raise awareness for the importance of the vaccine. With the 100 year anniversary of the Spanish Flu coming up (which killed 50 to 100 million people in 1918), the CDC believes it is finally time to raise awareness of the vaccine and drastically diminish the yearly deaths caused by the flu. Fingers crossed. (WaPo)

– “The image of Julian Assange grows darker by the day: The architect of WikiLeaks continues to depict himself as a heroic fighter for the cause of transparency, but that image is increasingly hard to take at face value.” (WaPo)

– “Nearly 70% of Americans consider themselves middle-class—here’s how many actually are” (CNBC)

This week in: What’s the deal with millennials?

– “Here’s How Millennials’ Lives Were Changed By Recession 10 Years Ago: If the Great Recession was 10 years ago, why does it feel like it was yesterday? Millennials share their stories of how their lives are still affected by last decade’s financial crisis.” (Buzzfeed)

– “This Is the Type of Debt Millennials Have: Millennials’ No. 1 life goal outranks a meaningful career, owning a home, and raising a family.” (Inc)

– “The Not-So-Great Reason Divorce Rates Are Declining: What’s changed isn’t marriage, but the types of people who are likeliest to get married.” (Atlantic)

Here are eight articles on our eight legged friend:

1. “The Mind of an Octopus: Eight smart limbs plus a big brain add up to a weird and wondrous kind of intelligence” (Scientific American)
2. “Octlantis is a just-discovered underwater city engineered by octopuses” (Quartz)
3. “How the octopus got its smarts: Did the octopus evolve its unique intelligence by playing fast and free with the genetic code? Elizabeth Finkel investigates.” (Cosmos)
4. “Deep Intellect” This is like The Shape Of Water but only if you haven’t seen The Shape Of Water. (Orion)
5. “Against the Octopus: It’s not a crafty, soulful genius. It’s dinner.” (Slate)
6. “Octopuses Do Something Really Strange to Their Genes: It might be connected to their extraordinary intelligence.” (Atlantic)
7. “Octopuses on ecstasy react a lot like humans do” (CNET)
8. “Seal attacks kayaker with octopus” (CNN)

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