“New York City Police Foundation — New York JPMorgan Chase recently donated an unprecedented $4.6 million to the New York City Police Foundation. The gift was the largest in the history of the foundation and will enable the New York City Police Department to strengthen security in the Big Apple. The money will pay for 1,000 new patrol car laptops, as well as security monitoring software in the NYPD’s main data center.

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly sent CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon a note expressing “profound gratitude” for the company’s donation.

“These officers put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe,” Dimon said. “We’re incredibly proud to help them build this program and let them know how much we value their hard work.”

from wespeakfortheearth.

As an adult, I now realize there was more nuance than I noticed as a child. My mother almost always had a side job, sometimes teaching guitar or piano in our house, or substitute teaching at our school. Recently I realized that it was my father who nearly wore out the orange plastic 8-track of Johnny Cash’s Orange Blossom Special in the old red pickup we drove out in the country where I was raised. So, I know my dad always loved music as much as my mother, just that he devoted all his time to his job, house and garden, making sure his family was fed and sheltered.

When he retired several years ago, Dad bought a bass and started learning how to play. Then he took singing lessons so he could play and sing. These days on weekends you are likely to find my parents at a campground playing and singing together with like-minded musicians in the Ozark Mountains. My mother is the one who plays multiple instruments and sings the best, but it is my father with his engineering-trained focus who impresses me the most. In a few short years he has become a masterful bass player, acquiring various styles of high quality instruments on eBay, and his deep voice is a moving addition to the circles in which he plays.

When Fresh Air played this episode on Friday about fathers, featuring an interview with Jimmie Dale Gilmore about his traditional country album dedicated to his late father, and one with Wayne and Darrell Scott about son Darrell’s release of his father Wayne’s original songs, I could only imagine my father enjoying the heck out of the music and the stories. Since I don’t know enough about basses to pick out a good one on eBay (besides the fact that my father always just buys what he wants anyway), I offer him this small gift of a post on my blog with these two audio pieces from Fresh Air that I know he’ll love.

Jimmie Dale Gilmore: In Song, A Eulogy For Dad:

Wayne And Darrell Scott: Father-Son Country

I understand and support both sides of the issue on Prop 2 — an amendment to the City Charter banning tax incentives for multi-housing and multi-business development. It is poorly worded and will have a negative impact to the City Charter if it is passed. However, lately the COA City Council has shown a financial preference to big box retailers over local business, which translates into more money (and big money) going out-of-state in return for low-wage jobs. In the end I voted for Prop 2 for two reasons.

First, our Council members need to hear a clear message from the voters that we prefer “Keep Austin Weird” to convenient big box retail shopping. We can rely on the outlying suburb cities to keep us stocked in Best Buy, Michael Kors and Macy’s stores. Heck, since Bee Caves closed the Backyard to build a strip mall blight on the Hill Country landscape I think we can assume that they’ll be perfectly willing to destroy any city charm in favor of low-cost high-impact shopping. Second, the argument that expensive lawsuits will surely follow is flawed since the lawsuits will be cheaper then the cost of the tax incentives and economic impact.

Happy voting day everyone. If you’re in a swing state then good luck with your presidential candidate of choice. The rest of us need to focus on local concerns.

One of the things that surprises me about John McCain’s reaction is that he was a prisoner of war who was denied these rights, and yet somehow he doesn’t think these people deserve better. Habeas corpus is based on the true Christian values that this country was based on — treating men equally whether or not you align with their religious convictions. To deny this right to the people we are detaining is to treat them in a manner that shames me.

It certainly doesn’t help my opinion of McCain when he associates himself with the a hypocrite of Lindsey Graham’s level. “…the greatest of these is charity…” unless you’re a detainee and then we’ll lock you up for five (or more) years. Graham’s amendment to the DoD Authorization Act — what the Supreme Court was decrying with this ruling — shows his lack of compassion, so it was no surprise to hear him standing next to McCain sayng:

What happened yesterday was unprecedented. Americans are going to be shocked to find that that mastermind of 9-11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, now has the same legal standing as an American citizen.

He’s either the worst spin man in Washington, or he’s a judicial idiot. In no way does this decision give detainees the full legal standing of an American citizen. It simply gives them the rights any captive should have.

I was supportive of Bob Dole several years ago when he announced his intention to run for POTUS, then he started his campaign and began spouting dogmatic anti-Christian attitudes. I had strong positive feelings for McCain before the campaign started. I really thought he could be a good modern face for conservatives. Now it is becoming clear that he wants to continue (what has apparently become the true thrust of) the neo-conservative attitude — increasing international inequity, restricting freedom and promoting violence in the world.