Americans Say Civility Has Worsened Under Trump; Trust In Institutions Down

"As Americans prepare to celebrate the country's 241st birthday, they believe the overall tone and level of civility between Democrats and Republicans in the nation's capital has gotten worse since the election of President Trump last year, a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll finds. The same survey also shows distrust of many of the nation's fundamental democratic institutions among the public.

Seven in 10 Americans say the level of civility in Washington has gotten worse since President Trump was elected, while just 6 percent say the overall tone has improved. Twenty percent say it has stayed the same. For comparison, 35 percent in 2009 said civility in the country had declined in the U.S. following President Obama's election, per a Gallup survey. Eight years ago, 21 percent of Americans in that poll thought civility and the tone of discourse in the country had improved."

Click to read the full article:

http://www.npr.org/2017/07/03/535044005/americans-say-civility-has-worsened-under-trump-trust-in-institutions-down

Happy 4th of July Independence Day

Independence Day, also referred to as the Fourth of July or July Fourth, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence 241 years ago on July 4, 1776. The Continental Congress declared that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as a new nation, the United States of America, and were no longer part of the British Empire.[1] The Congress actually voted to declare independence two days earlier, on July 2.

Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, and political speeches and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the National Day of the United States.

During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain in 1776 actually occurred on July 2, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia declaring the United States independent from Great Britain rule.[5][6] After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the wording of the Declaration, finally approving it two days later on July 4. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.

Adams's prediction was off by two days. From the outset, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.

Historians have long disputed whether members of Congress signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, even though Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin all later wrote that they had signed it on that day. Most historians have concluded that the Declaration was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed.

Coincidentally, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the only signers of the Declaration of Independence later to serve as Presidents of the United States, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the 50th anniversary of the Declaration. Although not a signer of the Declaration of Independence, James Monroe, another Founding Father who was elected as President, also died on July 4, 1831. He was the third President in a row who died on the anniversary of independence.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(United_States)

Fumigating City Hall in St Augustine with a Big Tent

The St Augustine, Florida City Hall and Lightner Museum is located in the former Hotel Alcaza, a grand building.  St Augustine is the oldest city in the USA. The building was closed and encased in an enormous tent for fumigating. Rathaus is the German term for City Hall, which seems appropriate for this occasion.

Hotel Alcaza

The hotel was commissioned by Henry Flagler, to appeal to wealthy tourists who traveled south for the winter on his railroad, the Florida East Coast Railway. It was designed by New York City architects Carrère and Hastings, in the Spanish Renaissance Revival style. The firm also designed the Ponce de León Hotel across the street, now part of the campus of Flagler College. Both structures are notable for being among the earliest examples of poured concrete buildings in the world. These architects later designed the New York Public Library in New York City and the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C.

The hotel had a steam room, massage parlor, sulfur baths, gymnasium, a three-storey ballroom, and the world's largest indoor swimming pool; however, after years as an elegant winter resort for wealthy patrons, the hotel closed in 1932. After purchasing the building to house his extensive collection of Victorian Era pieces in 1947, Chicago publisher Otto C. Lightner turned it over to the city of St. Augustine.^[3]

The building is an attraction in itself, centering on an open courtyard with palm trees and a stone arch bridge over a fishpond.

Museum

The museum occupies three floors of the former Hotel Alcazar and is housed in the former health facilities of the hotel, including the spa and the Turkish bath, in addition to its three-storey ballroom.

The first floor of the museum houses a Victorian village, with shop fronts representing emporia selling period wares; a Victorian Science and Industry Room displays shells, rocks, minerals, and Native American artifacts in beautiful Gilded Age cases, as well as stuffed birds, a small Egyptian mummy, a model steam engine, elaborate examples of Victorian glassblowing, a golden elephant bearing the world on its back, and a shrunken head. Moreover, the first floor contains a music room, filled with mechanized musical instruments—including player pianos, reproducing pianos, orchestrions, and others—dating from the 1870s through the 1920s.

The second floor contains examples of cut glass, Victorian art glass and stained glass work from Louis Comfort Tiffany's studio. The third floor, in the ballroom's upper balcony, exhibits paintings, sculptures, and furniture, including a grande escritoire created for Louis Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother and King of Holland between 1806 and 1810. The Ballroom Gallery has oil paintings by Paul Trouillebert(Cleopatra & the Dying Messenger), Léon Comerre (Maid of Honor), and Albert Bierstadt (In the Yosemite). It also has sculptures by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux and Randolph Rogers.

St Augustine, FL June 1, 2017

Click to view more photos

https://goo.gl/photos/9BQtEfXMevzv3Kjw8

America Health Care Coverage

Interesting information on US Health Care. Click for more info:

http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-gaba-20160329-snap-htmlstory.html

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The compiler of the information, Mr. Charles Gaba, is not an admirer of the current Senate Bill on Health Care. He notes that:

The official name of the Senate GOP's Trumpcare Plan is "The Better Care Reconciliation Act" Plan...otherwise known as "BCRAP"
.
acasignups.net

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The Center for American Progress has put together their own state-based and Congressional-District-based breakout of the latest score by the CBO of the Republican Senate's "BCRAP" healthcare bill.

They've once again taken the CBO's total estimates for net coverage losses as of 2026 (15 million nonelderly people losing Medicaid, 7 million losing individual market coverage) and done their best to break that 22 million total out by state, district and even the type of Medicaid coverage (Adults, Children, the disabled and ACA expansion), along with the million or so elderly Medicaid enrollees who would likely lose partial coverage (they'd still have Medicare but lose Medicaid). I'm once again taking their raw data and reformatting/color coding it into individual state-level infographics, suitable for sharing via social media.

https://www.americanprogress.org/tag/affordable-care-act/

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Health care coverage is very complex and hard for we mere mortals to comprehend.  The bottom line, though, is it is very expensive, and Congressional Republicans are proposing to cut taxes and lower subsidies. Tax cuts are a fine thing and it is likely the well to do will appreciate it. But the low income folks who lose their insurance or have to pay more likely will not like it.

Talk Radio

Talk radio is an important part of forming political opinions for many Americans. Five of the ten most listened to radio programs are conservative talk. Another conservative talk show, Hugh Hewitt is the 17th most listened to conservative show. Thom Hartmann is 19th and the only progressive radio show among the top 20.  I was surprised that Laura Ingram and Dennis Praeger did not make the top 20.

The programs are all entertaining, although become boring from their incessant snarky criticism of everything and everyone with whom they disagree. This obviously appeals to their listeners. The hosts are getting rich talking so they are on the economic right track.

The top two hosts, Limbaugh and Hannity, are both college dropouts. Number three Glen Beck took a college course.

Mark Levin, Hugh Hewitt, Laura Ingraham are lawyers. Michael Savage is a PhD in nutritional ethnomedicine. Dennis Praeger has a BA. Thom Hartmann has three degrees in herbology and homeopathic medicine.

Lesson learned for future would be conservative talk shows hosts?  Don't waste time with college. The three most successful hosts don't have college degrees. And don't be a liberal - conservatives are far more popular.

I find that talk radio has become more polarized.  People want to hear incessant criticism of the people they disagree with. It pays for radio shows to ignore nuance and blast their opponents. And this is bad for civil discourse.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-listened-to_radio_programs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_Limbaugh

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Hannity

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Beck

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Levin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Hewitt

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thom_Hartmann

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Prager

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Ingraham

THE CRAZY, INGENIOUS PLAN TO BRING HIPPOPOTAMUS RANCHING TO AMERICA

THE CRAZY, INGENIOUS PLAN TO BRING HIPPOPOTAMUS RANCHING TO AMERICA

(Back in the days before environmental impact statements)

"Inthe early years of the last century, the U.S. Congress considered a bold and ingenious plan that would simultaneously solve two pressing problems – a national meat shortage and a growing ecological crisis. The plan was this: hippopotamus ranching.

Hippos imported from Africa and raised in the bayous of Louisiana, proponents argued, would provide a delicious new source of protein for a meat-hungry nation. In the process, the animals would gobble up the invasive water hyacinth that was killing fish and choking off waterways. It would be an epic win-win. A bill was introduced in Congress, and newspaper editorials extolled the culinary virtues of "lake cow bacon."

This week in The Atavist, writer (and WIRED's Mr. Know-It-All columnist) Jon Mooallem describes the hippo ranching scheme and the story of two fascinating men behind it: one a modest frontiersman and soldier of fortune, the other a self-aggrandizing con man. Both were spies. Each was sworn to kill the other. But the great cause of hippo ranching brought them together."

Click to read the story: https://www.wired.com/2013/12/hippopotamus-ranching/