Sunday, September 27, 2015
North Carolina Voters Show Their Presidential Preferences
Bernie Sanders is doing very well in New Hampshire -- a small state that borders his home state of Vermont. But he is having difficulty getting traction in other states. I have brought you polls from states like Iowa, New York, South Carolina, Florida, and Texas -- and all of them show Hillary Clinton with a huge lead in the Democratic race.
Now we have a new state reporting -- North Carolina. And again, the results show Hillary Clinton with a large lead -- about 30.4 points over Sanders (53.4% to 23%). That's with Biden in the race. If he doesn't enter, Clinton's majority would be even bigger.
North Carolina Republicans surprised me a bit. They have Donald Trump and Ben Carson in a virtual tie -- with Trump leading by less than a point (21.5% to 20.9%). Fiorina is in third, but far behind with only 9.9%. Rubio has 7.4% and Bush comes in 5th with 7%.
The numbers come from the Elon University Poll -- done between September 17th and 21st. They questioned 427 North Carolina Democrats (with a margin of error of 4.74 points) and 516 Republicans (with a margin of error of 4.31 points).
September Averages In Both Party Presidential Races
These charts show the RealClearPolitics average of all the national presidential polls done during the month of September for both parties. The polls included in that average are: CNN/ORC Poll, Quinnipiac University Poll, Bloomberg News Poll, and Fox News Poll.
Whites Must Stand Up For Equal Justice
The following is a post by Austin pastor Jim Rigby on his own excellent blog. While Rigby and I may not agree about religion, I agree with every word he has written in this post on equal justice. He says:
It now seems that white people who care about the suffering of black people have run out of every other option. The violence against our brothers and sisters will never end until we ourselves enter into a time of great suffering in solidarity with theirs. So long as we only work for racial justice within a system forged in the fires of white supremacy, we ourselves constitute the bars of their oppression (in spite of our best intentions.) We can no longer work for justice from safely behind the ivied walls of our white privilege.
Dr. King has shown us all the way. All that is missing is the critical mass that white solidarity would provide. We ourselves must now violate the laws that oppress innocent and suffering members of our human family. We ourselves must fill the jail cells that have been built for them until there is no room for either of us. We must use the weight of our own numbers to end any human being’s status as “minority.”
The people who have been targeted for oppression are the only ones who can determine what actions are helpful, but it is time for every white person of conscience to report for duty. White people who care about the suffering of black people must begin to share the full cost of the freedom we say we want for all.
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Boehner Resignation Could Be Good (In The Short Term)
I am in the latter group. I think it is terrible for the Republican Party, because he is likely to be replaced by a person even farther to the right -- or someone who will continue to have problems with those on the far-right. Neither is good for that party. They will be viewed as even more extreme (and the American people hate extremism) or they will continue to fight amongst themselves.
It will also be bad for Congress -- because Congress will continue to remain the dysfunctional body that it has become known for. It will remain a body that prefers to play political fames, rather than a body capable of compromise for the good of the country.
Having said all that, I do believe there may be a small silver lining to that dark cloud -- at least in the short term. It could give Speaker Boehner the freedom to act on his own and prevent a government shutdown.
Boehner had promised that there would be no government shutdown. But things got out of hand in Congress. The teabagger congressmen on the far-right were able to include in the budget bill a provision to defund Planned Parenthood (which would hurt health care for many women). They knew full well that this had no chance of passing the Senate, and if by some miracle it did, would be vetoed by the president. But they did it anyway. They want government shutdown to please the teabagger extremists in their base.
This put Speaker Boehner between a rock and a hard place. He had only two choices -- break his promise of no government shutdown, or take the Republicans who were with him and join the Democrats to prevent the shutdown. That latter option would have resulted in a no-confidence vote that probably would have ended his speakership (because there would have been enough votes on the far-right to deny him a majority, and it is unlikely that Democrats would have voted to save him).
His resignation frees him of this dilemma. He can now appeal to Democrats to help him (and the anti-shutdown Republicans with him) to help him pass a budget bill without the odious Planned Parenthood provision -- and that bill would prevent the impending government shutdown. While the far-right would not like that, they would have no recourse against him.
Will Boehner now act to stop the government shutdown. I hope he does. The ball is now back in his court, and he can do that if he wants to keep his "no shutdown" promise. I think he will. We'll find out in the next few days.
(The caricature of Speaker Boehner above is by DonkeyHotey.)
Thoughts Of An Atheist On The Pope's Visit
Regular readers of this blog will know I am an atheist. I don't just not believe there is a god -- but believe religion (of all kinds) is an evil that has caused many problems and much violence all over the world. I believe the world would be a better place if there was no religion.
Having said that, you might think I would be upset at this powerful religious leader visiting this country -- and that I would join many of my fellow atheists in denigrating or making fun of the Pope's visit. But if you did think that, then you would be wrong.
While I cannot accept the religion he represents, I have to admit that I like Pope Francis as a person. I truly believe that he is a kind person, who loves all people-- including non-believers like myself. I like that he is most comfortable around the poor, the disadvantaged, and children. And I like much of the message he is sending around the world.
Like it or not, the Pope is a world leader, and his opinions resonate with many millions of people. And it is a good thing that he is using his "bully pulpit" to spread ideas like addressing the shortcomings of capitalism, helping the poor, protecting the planet from pollution and global warming, accepting refugees and immigrants, working to stop wars, and generally treating other humans in a loving and decent manner.
Those are good things, and you don't have to be religious to know that. I welcome his bringing that message to this country, and even taking it into the belly of the beast (Congress). Perhaps his visit will have an influence on people, and help them to have the courage to press forward on these progressive policies -- and help to change things for the better in this country (putting the welfare of the people above the desire for profit).
Pope Francis is not perfect. No man is perfect. But I believe he is sincere in his desire to help the poor and underprivileged and save the planet. And that makes him worthy of respect.
A Bit Of Praise For A Texas (And American) Hero
Kenneth Kendrick, missing Monday from the federal courthouse in Albany, GA, did not hear the praise that came from a witness during a pivotal day in the world of food safety.
Kendrick is a former assistant plant manager of the Plainview, Texas, peanut processing facility once owned by the now-defunct Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). On Sept. 21, 2015, his past bosses and supervisors — Stewart Parnell, former owner of PCA, Michael Parnell, former peanut broker, and Mary Wilkerson, former quality assurance manager — sat for sentencing in the same courthouse in which their federal trial was conducted a year earlier.
At the heart of this trial and sentencing sits the 2008-09 Salmonella outbreak, considered one of the most significant in U.S. history. The CDC report on this multistate outbreak identifies 714 clinically confirmed illnesses across 46 states and nine deaths. Later estimates from the CDC place the number of potential victims not reporting an illness at more than 22,000.
Their attempts to hide evidence and obstruct justice delayed investigators from finding the true source of the contamination and bringing an end to the outbreak sooner.
Unbeknownst to investigators, PCA also had a peanut processing plant in Plainview, Texas, where Kendrick worked for several months in 2006. Back then, Kendrick observed numerous problems in the Texas plant, including rat infestations, bird nests, and a roof leak — all of which triggered his concern for feces in the product. According to Kendrick, “particularly with water leaking off a roof, bird feces can wash in and drip onto the peanuts.”
After only a few months on the job, Kendrick chose to leave his position with PCA because, as he stated, “I knew it was a train wreck and something unethical and bad was about to happen.”
“When I was working there, [PCA had] nothing that resembled a quality assurance program,” Kendrick said. “I came from a lab testing background in the meat industry. I thought there would be regular testing, like in the meat industry… .”
Years later, when Kendrick learned that the widespread Salmonella outbreak in 2008-09 had been traced back to PCA’s Georgia plant, he spent “hundreds of hours” trying to contact the media and federal food or health agencies to alert them to the numerous violations he witnessed in PCA’s plant in Plainview. Attempt after attempt failed to result in a reply from anyone. Kendrick sent anonymous emails and letters to the Texas Department of Health and to companies that purchased products from his plant, but he never received a response from them.
The only response he received was from the Chicago office of STOP Foodborne Illness, the leading national non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention of illness and death from foodborne pathogens. STOP convinced FDA officials to meet with Kendrick in January 2009.
The staff at STOP Foodborne Illness also connected Kendrick with Gardiner Harris, a reporter at The New York Times. Harris’ article, “After Tests, Peanut Plant in Texas Is Closed,” appeared in the Feb. 11, 2009, Health and Policy section of the paper.
After that article appeared, STOP Foodborne Illness connected Kendrick with a producer from ABC’s “Good Morning America” show.
During a Feb. 16, 2009, exclusive interview with the show, Kendrick discussed how his granddaughter became ill with Salmonella-like symptoms for three weeks in December, a time when she only wanted to eat peanut butter crackers.
“So I kept giving her the crackers and she kept getting sicker,” Kendrick said. “I’ve had a lot of sleepless nights over that, a lot of crying over that issue.” He then went on to describe in shocking detail the conditions he observed at the PCA plant in Texas.
After his interviews, investigators shifted their focus to the plant where Kendrick once worked. Texas officials had no idea that the Plainview facility even existed. Stewart Parnell had not registered his Texas peanut facility as a food processing plant with the state.
As a result of Kendrick’s whistleblowing, federal authorities and the Texas Department of Health investigated the Plainview plant as another source of the outbreak. His information helped prove that peanut products were being shipped between PCA facilities in different states — contrary to what Parnell had told the public and investigators throughout the outbreak.
In 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted Parnell, his brother, and three other executives involved in the attempts to conceal problems at PCA on charges of fraud, wire fraud, obstruction of justice, and more than 70 other charges.
At the end of their 2014 trial, a 12-member jury found Stewart Parnell guilty on 67 federal felony counts, Michael Parnell guilty on 30 counts, and Wilkerson guilty on one of two counts of obstruction of justice.
The 2015 sentencing of the five convicted food industry executives included the testimonies of victims and families affected by PCA and the outbreak of Salmonella tied to the company. Jeff Almer, who lost his mother during the outbreak, named each guilty executive and had a word or two for them. He asked Wilkerson about her definition of quality assurance. He even stared at Stewart Parnell and said, “You killed my mom.”
Before ending his testimony, Almer stated before the court his appreciation for the efforts of Kenneth Kendrick in helping to make sure that the investigation, as well as the subsequent trial and sentencing, became possible.
On Monday, Sept. 21, 2015, the judge handed Stewart Parnell a sentence of 28 years in prison, Michael Parnell 20 years, and Mary Wilkerson 5 years. Former PCA managers Daniel Kilgore and Samuel Lightsey, who pleaded guilty under agreements with federal prosecutors, are scheduled to receive their sentences on Oct. 1, 2015.
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