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smcvay19ahsgov-blog · 6 years ago

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The 3 Ps Assessment: Parties, Political Interest Groups, and PACs

1. Include:

Republicans: Republicans support stem cell research, but not embryonic stem cell research. They believe embryonic stem cell research destroys human life.

B. I don’t agree with their position because I feel like the embryonic stem cell research has just as much benefit as the adult stem cell research.

Democrats: Democrats believe in the importance of stem cell research. The Obama administration lifted federal restrictions on stem cell research.

B. I agree with their position because I believe that the government should fund stem cell research.

Libertarians: I was not able to find anything about embryonic stem cell research on their website. However, I was able to find one Libertarian named Gary Johnson and he was against federal funding and believed it should be up to private laboratories to operate the research. I think they don’t have their opinion stated on their website because they don’t believe the government should fund that kind of research.

B. I don’t agree with their views because I believe the federal government should fund embryonic stem cell research.

Green Party: I was not able to find out embryonic stem cell research on their website, but I did find one Green Party member’s view. Dr. Jill Stein believes that the federal government should fund embryonic stem cell research.

B. I agree with this view because like I said before I believe embryonic stem cell research should be funded by the federal government.

Peace and Freedom Party: I was not able to find anything on their stance on embryonic stem cell research. I think they didn’t include their opinion because embryonic stem cell research is not a very popular or well-known topic.

B. I can’t say if I agree or disagree with this party because I don’t know their views.

1c. I most identify with the Democratic Party. I don’t think that’s surprising. I would vote for that presidential candidate if he or she supported embryonic stem cell research.

2. Identify one national interest group:

2a. Interest group name- 314 Action

2b.A brief statement assessing the position/perspective of the interest group-These members and grassroots supporters are committed to advocating for more STEM-trained candidates for public office. They are the largest resource for helping scientists run for office.

2c. Visit the interest group’s website.-

-This group’s goal is to “Provide a voice for the STEM community on social issues”

- They also want to “Elect more leaders to the U.S. Senate, House, State Executive, and Legislative offices who come from STEM backgrounds”

-When Shaughnessy Naughton (The President of 314Action.org) ran for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 8th District she attracted a lot of attention. Although she did not win, she said she learned that there were not enough scientist in Congress and many were denying basic, scientific facts.

- Harmony Knutson is the Director of Advocacy and she leads the state and federal government relations and advances 314 Action’s policies.

- 314 Action is keeping a close eye on members of Congress who are anti-science.

-”Under the Scope” is the program that will scrutinize the actions of anti-science politicians.

2d. Describe one piece of legislation, specific policy action, or candidate this group desires or endorses

- 314 Action endorses TJ Cox. Cox is a candidate for US Congress, California’s 21st District. Over the last six years, his focus has been to develop community health clinics and healthcare jobs. Cox is also a registered professional engineer.

2e. Where is this interest group located? Are there any local meetings you could attend? When?

-314 Action is located in Washington, DC. There are no local meetings.

2f. Are there volunteer opportunities? If so, what are they?

- There are opportunities in California, but they do not list what they are unless you sign up. They have volunteer opportunities in 35 states and the DC.

2g. Identify additional developments you find interesting from the website/group

-I found it interesting that they have t-shirts for sale and one of the t-shirts have Albert Einstien’s face on it. They also have organizations on over 75 college campuses.

3. State interest group

3a. Interest group name- BIOCOM

3b.A brief statement assessing the position/perspective of the interest group- BIOCOM is the strongest public voice for science companies in California. They advocate for developments of STEM education and strive to improve human conditions.

3c. Visit the interest group’s website.-

- In their website, it stated, “Biocom is urging the House and the Senate to increase funding for the NIH in FY2018 and FY2019.”

- In their website, it stated, “Biocom is urging Congress to reauthorize the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA)”

-BIOCOM has an office in Washington DC

-They are fighting Congress and telling them to repeal the Medical Device Tax

-BIOCOM has a Legislative Committee to discuss local, state and federal issues

-BIOCOM advocates for the science industry in California

3d. Describe one piece of legislation, specific policy action, or candidate this group desires or endorses

-BIOCOM endorses Nathan Fletcher for San Diego County 4th District Supervisorial Seat on September 12, 2018. Nathan has a record for working with science. He served two terms in the California State Assembly.

3e. Where is this interest group located? Are there any local meetings you could attend? When?

- They are located in San Diego, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Tokyo, and the Bay Area. If I was a BIOCOM member then I could attend the “Breakfast with Biocom: The Power of Education - Translating New Technologies for the Clinic” meeting. It is located in San Francisco on November 14, 8:30 a.m.

3f. Are there volunteer opportunities? If so, what are they?

-Yes, I could volunteer for the “STEM in your backyard program”.

3g. Identify additional developments you find interesting from the website/group

- I found that this organization is involved in multiple countries. For example, Tokyo, China, United Kingdom, France, and Australia.

4. Compare the two interest groups

Which one seems more organized? More successful? Who is their target audience? Supporters?

- In my opinion, 314 Action seemed more organized. 314 Action also seemed to fit my issue better. Their website was easier to navigate and they seem to have clearer goals about what they want to accomplish. 314 Action does seem more successful because they work directly with candidates trying to get into office. It is also stated that in 2018 there are more science candidates running for office than ever before, so that means 314 Action’s message is being heard. This group’s sole focus is to elect more pro-science politicians. I think their target audience is anyone who believes in science and wants to see more science in Congress and leadership roles. 314 Action has grassroots supporters. BIOCOM does not seem as organized because their website was not easy to navigate and their message wasn’t as clear. Although BIOCOM seems very successful, they aren’t as successful as 314 Action. I think the target audience for BIOCOM is mainly for people in California, but also expands to people around the world. I think this organization is also intended for anyone who is passionate about STEM education and the spread of knowledge about science. The supporters and partners for BIOCOM are California Biotechnology Foundation and Adva Med and more.

5. Choose one PAC or Super PAC that pertains to your civic action issue. Include:

5a. PAC name- Cmte/Advancement of Stem Cell Research

5b. A brief statement assessing the position/perspective of the PAC

-This PAC is for the advancement of stem cell research.

5c. How much money have they raised/total receipt? How much have they spent? How much cash do they have on hand?

- In 2004 they raised $26,400 and they spent $26,700. Their beginning cash on hand was $1,336 and in the end their cash on hand was $1,550.

5d. How much of their budget is spent on: Republicans? Democrats?

-Their budget in 2002 spent on Republicans was $0 and $500 for Democrats.

5e. Who are some of their donors? How does this reflect the interests of the PAC?

-The majority of donors were from New York. Some include: Rocca Zimmerman (NY), Gary Susser (FL), Susan Talve (MO), and Frank Cocozzelli (NY) donated $2730 from seven separate donations. This means a lot of the donors were private. This means the PAC donations weren’t as high as some PAC’s that got major corporation’s donations.

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neptunecreek · 4 years ago

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Watch EFF Cybersecurity Director Eva Galperin's TED Talk About Stalkerware

Stalkers and abusive partners want access to your device for the same reason governments and advertisers do: because “full access to a person's phone is the next best thing to full access to a person's mind,” as EFF Director of Cybersecurity Eva Galperin explains in her TED talk on “stalkerware” and her efforts to end the abuse this malicious software enables.

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After years of studying how nation-state actors use advanced malware to spy on journalists, activists, lawyers, scientists, and others who practice dissent and advocacy, Galperin shifted her focus to how stalkers, abusive partners, and exes use advanced malware to spy on and manipulate their victims.

Of the companies that market stalkerware—sometimes under the guise of child safety or employee-monitoring software—Galperin told the TED audience, “Do these companies know that their tools are being used as tools of abuse? Absolutely.”

We call on antivirus companies to recognize stalkerware for what it is: malicious technology with no acceptable use case. With groups like the Coalition Against Stalkerware, Galperin and EFF are leading the fight to educate users and push antivirus companies to “change the norm” around how they treat this technology to prevent abuse and protect victims.

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route22ny · 8 years ago

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On Saturday, March 4, students, teachers, parents and community members across New York state will stand up for education justice.

Here in Central New York we will rally and march in downtown Syracuse to send a bold message to our state and local representatives that we are ready to defend public education. We stand together and march for fair and fully funded public schools, to protect the educational rights of students with disabilities, to end the school-to-prison pipeline, and to increase access to early care and learning opportunities for babies and toddlers.

We are marching to protect our youth, and demand the New York Legislature do the same. Accessibility note: Our tentative schedule is to rally at Hanover Square 12:00-12:45. There is some outdoor seating in the square. It is a paved surface. We will then march a few blocks to the State building. Also the rally will be ASL INTERPRETED! This event is co-hosted by CNY Solidarity Coalition and Alliance for Quality Education of New York. Supporting organizations include: - Central New York Citizens in Action, Inc. - F.A.C.E.S. of Nottingham High School - Parents for Public Schools of Syracuse - New Feminists for Justice - One Mile When? - SUNY Onondaga Community College Federation of Teachers and Administrators (OCCFTA) NYSUT Local 1845 - Syracuse Teachers Association - Parents for Public Schools of Syracuse - Syracuse Students United - Center for Community Alternatives - POP- Parent Opportunity for emPOWERment at Van Duyn Elementary - Roberts PTO - First Unitarian Universalist Society of Syracuse - Alliance of Communities Transforming Syracuse (ACTS): Pre-K task force, Youth Council, Community Violence and Youth task force, Criminal Justice task force - Ed Smith Parent Partnership Committee - 3Es Advocacy Initiative Group

***

more info here

#syracuse #public education #resistance #CNY #public school

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thewebofslime · 6 years ago

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Lockheed L-100-30 cargo aircraft linked to the Central Intelligence Agency appears to have landed in Venezuela's capital Caracas amid an increasingly severe political and economic crisis that threatens to bring down the regime of President Nicolas Maduro. The aircraft's arrival follows U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's decision to withdraw all remaining American diplomatic personnel from the country, raising concerns that the United States may be preparing for a military intervention on behalf of Juan Guaido, the President of the country’s National Assembly, who has challenged Maduro's authority. Individuals online using flight tracking software first noticed the L-100-30, a civilian variant of the C-130 Hercules, which carries the U.S. civil registration code N3867X, heading out into the Caribbean Sea around 8:00 AM Eastern Standard Time. Two and half hours later, the plane began descending toward Caracas. The aircraft had left Venezuela by around 1:20 PM. MADURO DONS TANKER HELMET AND RIDES AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLE IN CHEESY SHOW OF STRENGTH By Joseph Trevithick Posted in THE WAR ZONE RUSSIAN MERCENARIES REPORTEDLY DESCEND ON VENEZUELA TO HELP PROTECT MADURO'S REGIME By Joseph Trevithick Posted in THE WAR ZONE IF THE U.S. HAS TO PULL ITS DIPLOMATS OUT OF VENEZUELA, HERE'S HOW THEY WOULD DO IT By Joseph Trevithick Posted in THE WAR ZONE SHADOWY CIA-LINKED SPY PLANE MAY BE SCOURING THE SEA FOR NORTH KOREAN SANCTION BUSTING By Joseph Trevithick Posted in THE WAR ZONE THIS GHOST OF A HELICOPTER LIKELY HAD A SECRET ROLE IN REAGAN’S ‘TEAR DOWN THIS WALL’ SPEECH By Joseph Trevithick Posted in THE WAR ZONE N3867X's registration is tied to an entity called T3D&H LLC, based Wilmington, Delaware, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). T3D&H is widely understood to be a front for Florida-headquartered Tepper Aviation, which has long-standing ties to the CIA. In 1989, media reports said that Tepper had become involved in the Agency's efforts to support rebels in Angola, commonly referred to by their group's Portuguese acronym UNITA, as well as taking part in transporting cargo linked to the Iran-Contra scandal. That same year, another one of the company's L-100s, N9205T, crashed in Angola, killing Bud Petty, the firm's owner at the time, as well as another American, two West Germans, a British national, and multiple UNITA members. The aircraft was reportedly also carrying a shipment of weapons at the time. More recently, media reports have linked Tepper to the U.S. government's extraordinary rendition program. FAA records show that T3D&H only officially took ownership of N3867X specifically in 2006, after acquiring it from South Africa's Safair. What the plane, which presently flies in an overall light gray scheme with virtually no markings, was doing in Venezuela is unclear. At the time of writing, the Central Intelligence Agency has not yet responded to our queries about the flight. One possibility is that the aircraft could have been supporting the departure of American personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Caracas. "The U.S. will withdraw all remaining personnel from @usembassyve this week," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Tweeted out late on Mar. 11, 2019. "This decision reflects the deteriorating situation in #Venezuela as well as the conclusion that the presence of U.S. diplomatic staff at the embassy has become a constraint on U.S. policy." At 1:30 PM on Mar. 14, 2019, as N3867X headed away from Venezuela, Pompeo Tweeted out again that all American diplomatic staff had left the country. There had also been an indication that the U.S. government had hired a Boeing 737 belonging to Kalitta Charters for this purpose. This same plane, with the US registration code N331CK, had retrieved U.S. diplomatic personnel from Moscow in 2018 in the aftermath of the Russian attempt to assassinate former intelligence officer Sergei Skripal in the United Kingdom with a nerve agent. The CIA has historically operated from within American diplomatic sites or from facilities relatively close by. Regardless, the Agency could be withdrawing its own staff, or a portion thereof, to coincide with the State Department's decision. At present, State remains the lead agency responsible for determining the risks to all U.S. government personnel and other nationals in Venezuela, something you can read about in more depth here. The other possibility is that the CIA could be bringing in additional personnel, equipment, and supplies to bolster its own presence in the country. A combination of poorly maintained infrastructure and sanctions led to a major nation-wide blackout that resulted in looting, a further erosion of basic services in the country, and numerous deaths. Any American facilities in the country would have their own backup power supplies, but would need fuel to power those generators. The CIA could also have determined there was a need for additional security at any sites it is still operating, especially with the departure of State's personnel. Still, it would be hard for the Agency to continue its activities at all without diplomatic cover. This, combined with the exact timing of the Tepper Aviation flight, much more strongly suggests that the plane's presence was related to withdrawing CIA personnel and assets, not inserting them. But whatever N3867X was doing in Venezuela, it trip is certain to turn heads both in that country and elsewhere. On Feb. 7, 2019, Venezuelan authorities claimed they had seized a shipment of weapons and other equipment that had come into the city of Valencia, situated less than 100 miles west of Caracas, on a Boeing 767, with the U.S. civil registration code N881YV, from Miami. There is no hard evidence that the guns and other items were actually on this aircraft. North Carolina-headquartered 21 Air, which owns the plane, as well as GPS-Air, the company that chartered the aircraft, both subsequently denied being aware of any such cargo on board, oddly phrased statements that have only prompted more speculation about the incident. It's worth noting that 21 Air's chairman, as well as its director of quality control, have ties to a separate firm known as Gemini Air Cargo, according to a report from McClatchy. Like Tepper Aviation, advocacy groups have linked Gemini to the CIA and the U.S. government's extraordinary rendition program. What's even more curious is that records from online flight trackers show that N881YV only began making regular flights to Valencia in January 2019 and that these activities stopped, at least according to publicly available information, immediately after the purported discovery of the weapons shipment the next month. GPS-Air was the only company chartering the plane to fly to Venezula in this period, according to statements that 21 Air gave to McClatchy. Even more bizarre, 21 Air's second aircraft, another Boeing 767 with the registration N999YV, appeared on the Dutch island of Curaçao, where the U.S. military also has a forward operating location, on Feb. 21, 2019, reportedly taking on humanitarian aid bound for Venezuela. But there's no record in multiple flight tracking databases that this plane was ever there, according to Canada-based independent plane and ship watcher Steffan Watkins, who has been researching these flights in depth and keeping close tabs on the general situation. In fact, he's found that there's no record of this plane flying anywhere recently. Of course, none of this is hard evidence of CIA-linked activities aimed at unseating Maduro or otherwise helping Gauido officially assume power in Venezuela. Even before the opposition leader declared himself Interim President and received formal recognition from the United States and numerous countries in South America, Maduro had routinely accused the U.S. government, and the CIA specifically, without offering any proof, of seeking to undermine and overthrow his regime. Maduro notably blamed the United States, as well as Colombia, for an assassination attempt involving a pair of explosive laden drones in August 2018. He also said that "high-tech" capabilities that "only the U.S. government has in the world," a likely reference to reported American cyber warfare tools, were responsible for bringing down the country's electricity grid. The United States has categorically denied being involved in either the assassination attempt or the blackout. Since the crisis of leadership between Maduro and Guaido erupted in January 2019, there has also been no shortage of curious aviation activities in Venezuela and elsewhere in the region, as countries conduct shuttle diplomacy and private companies and other interests look to secure their assets and personnel. There have been numerous reports that Maduro has been trying to sell off large amounts of gold from the country's national reserves to keep bank rolling his regime amid increasing international pressure, or just simply for his own personal enrichment. But the activities of 21 Air's 767s, and now the appearance of the Tepper Aviation L-100-30, do come amid mounting concerns that the United States is moving closer to launching an armed intervention into Venezuela. Though it was not clear initially that this was the case, it has become obvious that, since February 2019, U.S. Air Force RC-135V/W Rivet Joint spy planes have been monitoring at least some portion of Venezuela while flying orbits off the northeastern coast of the country with increasing regularity. At least one U.S. Navy EP-3E Aries II has flown in the same area. The RC-135V/Ws and EP-3Es are both capable signals intelligence platforms capable of detecting and geo-locating various "emitters," such as radios and radars, and intercepting those transmissions. This allows the aircraft to collect and analyze communications chatter, as well as help build a so-called "electronic order of battle" of enemy air defenses based on the position of radars and other assets. You can read more about the capabilities of these planes in depth here and here. Pompeo's comment that the continued presence of American diplomatic personnel was a "constraint" on American policy could indicate that keeping the U.S. Embassy open was seen as adding unnecessary risks to potential military operations. Venezuela security forces might have sought to seize the Embassy compound and take Americans hostages to stymie any intervention. The State Department has now said that it will hold Maduro and security forces loyal to him personally responsible for the safety of any American citizens still in the country. GOOGLE EARTH A satellite image of the US Embassy compound in Caracas. In January 2019, National Security Advisor John Bolton had stoked similar fears about an impending military operation when reporters noticed him carrying a pad of paper with the note "5,000 troops to Colombia." It remains unclear what this note was referring to at all. U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to appoint Elliott Abrams as U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela has only prompted more speculation. As Assistant Secretary of State, Abrams was directly involved in controversial American activities in Latin America during the 1980s and was also convicted of crimes relating to the Iran-Contra Scandal. President George H.W. Bush later pardoned him. On Mar. 12, 2019, Abrams told reporters that "all options" remained on the table for how the U.S. government might proceed in regards to the crisis in Venezuela. At the same time, the extent of clear U.S. military activities related to the crisis in Venezuela has been intelligence gathering and the use of Air Force transport planes to deliver humanitarian aid to staging sites in neighboring Colombia. There has been no clear evidence any major American troop build up linked to an actual military intervention. USAF US military personnel unload humanitarian aid from an Air Force C-17A Globemaster III transport aircraft in Cucuta, Colombia in February 2019. It remains to be seen whether N3867X's sudden appearance in the country, or the departure of the remaining State Department personnel, is any indicator that American policy might be shifting in a new direction. We will definitely be keeping an eye out for any new developments.

#TheWebOfSlime

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cityofpghnews · 8 years ago

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Pittsburgh Recognized as Certified Sustainable Municipality http://ift.tt/2orq9Zd

PITTSBURGH, PA (March 27, 2017) – Mayor William Peduto today announced that the City of Pittsburgh is among a select group of high performing municipalities and has been recognized as a Platinum Certified Sustainable Municipality by the Sustainable Pennsylvania Community Certification program. The Platinum certification is the highest level of achievement and is issued to municipalities that meet the program's rigorous performance criteria which tracks 131 policies and practices that define a sustainable community.

Now a national leader in sustainability, the City of Pittsburgh excelled on the performance program’s certification criteria in policy and practice. Pittsburgh’s dedication to sustainability has never been stronger and is reflected in the following Peduto administration initiatives and programs including the p4 initiative, an innovative and sustainable model for land development, and ONEPGH, a strategic plan which envisions authentic neighborhoods that are close to employment and service hubs and offer accessible choices in housing and transportation. These initiatives focus on many aspects of Pittsburgh’s resilience including working to combat gaps in education, income and wealth by race and ethnicity, and addressing environmental pollution, climate change, and the public health.

The Sustainable Pennsylvania Community Certification, administered by the Pennsylvania Municipal League in partnership with Sustainable Pittsburgh, is designed for municipalities that are working to save money, conserve resources, and serve vibrant communities. Originally deployed in Southwestern Pennsylvania by Sustainable Pittsburgh, the certification has gone state-wide recognizing small, medium, and large municipalities across the Commonwealth. The Pennsylvania Municipal League and Sustainable Pittsburgh applaud municipalities for their demonstrated commitment and sustainability performance.

In earning the Platinum certification, the City of Pittsburgh is acknowledged for its progress in addressing such areas as community design and land use, energy efficiency, health and wellness, mitigating blight, intergovernmental cooperation, recycling and waste reduction, fiscal controls, and internal management and operations. Details regarding how Pittsburgh is addressing these areas can be found on the certification program’s website: http://ift.tt/2nFi2er.

"The City of Pittsburgh is proud to be recognized as a Platinum Certified Community by the Sustainable Pennsylvania Community Certification program," said Mayor William Peduto. "In Pittsburgh we’ve worked to apply best practices in municipal government and community development to make Pittsburgh a city for all. We are pleased to be recognized and be part of the regional community of good government."

"We are delighted to see Pittsburgh distinguished among local governments that are leading the way in applying sustainability to both their operations and management as well as within the community," said Anne McCollum, Director of Training and Development, Pennsylvania Municipal League.

Achieving certification in the Sustainable Pennsylvania Community Certification is intended to bring recognition to municipalities that are applying the policy and practice of sustainability as their way of advancing community prosperity. It also serves as a mechanism for sharing best practices for creating a more sustainable Pennsylvania.

"Municipalities that earn the Sustainable Pennsylvania Community Certification are standouts in demonstrating adherence to best practices that elevate them as communities of choice to live, work, and play. Commitment to continuous improvement is at the heart of sustainability and the certification program is a means to accelerate municipal performance," said Court Gould, Executive Director, Sustainable Pittsburgh.

Details about City of Pittsburgh’s certification performance can be found here: http://ift.tt/2nFi2er.

For more information, please visit http://ift.tt/2nFi2er or contact Grant Ervin, Chief Resilience Officer, [email protected].

About the Pennsylvania Municipal League

The Pennsylvania Municipal League (PML) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization established in 1900 as an advocate for Pennsylvania’s 3rd class cities. The PML represents participating Pennsylvania cities, townships, town, boroughs, and home rule municipalities that all share the League’s municipal policy interests. PML provides a wide array of municipal services including legislative advocacy (on both the state and federal levels), publications designed to educate and inform, education and training certification programs, membership research and inquiries, consulting-based programs, group insurance trusts, and the statewide Sustainable Pennsylvania Community Certification. Specific to Southwestern Pennsylvania, PML is partnered with Sustainable Pittsburgh for outreach.

About Sustainable Pittsburgh Sustainable Pittsburgh (SP) affects decision-making in the Pittsburgh region to integrate economic prosperity, social equity, and environmental quality as the enduring accountability bringing sustainable solutions for communities and businesses. Over the past 19 years, SP has proven adept at building coalitions for the policy and practice of sustainable development for southwestern Pennsylvania. SP educates and engages decision-makers and in turn elevates expectations for integration of the 3Es (environmental conservation, social equity, and economic prosperity) among government, businesses, nonprofits and academia.

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March 27, 2017 at 02:13PM

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3rdeyeinsights · 1 year ago

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neptunecreek · 6 years ago

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The Foilies 2019

Recognizing the year’s worst in government transparency

The cause of government transparency finally broke through to the popular zeitgeist this year. It wasn’t an investigative journalism exposé or a civil rights lawsuit that did it, but a light-hearted sitcom about a Taiwanese American family set in Orlando, Florida, in the late 1990s.

In a January episode of ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat, the Huang family’s two youngest children—overachievers Evan and Emery—decide if they sprint on all their homework, they’ll have time to plan their father’s birthday party.

“Like the time we knocked out two English papers, a science experiment, and built the White House out of sugar cubes,” Evan said. “It opened up our Sunday for filing Freedom of Information requests.”

“They may not have figured out who shot JFK,” Emery added. “But we will.”

The eldest child, teenage slacker Eddie, concluded with a sage nod, “You know, once in a while, it’s good to know nerds.”

Amen to that. Around the world, nerds of all ages are using laws like the United States’ Freedom of Information Act (and state-level equivalent laws) to pry free secrets and expose the inner workings of our democracy. Each year, open government advocates celebrate these heroes during Sunshine Week, an annual advocacy campaign on transparency.

But the journalists and researchers who rely on these important measures every day can’t help but smirk at the boys’ scripted innocence. Too often, government officials will devise novel and outrageous ways to reject requests for information or otherwise stymie the public’s right to know. Even today—20 years after the events set in the episode—the White House continues to withhold key documents from the Kennedy assassination files.

Since 2015, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (a nonprofit that advocates for free speech, privacy and government transparency in the digital age) has published The Foilies to recognize the bad actors who attempted to thwart the quests for truth of today’s Evans and Emerys. With these tongue-in-cheek awards, we call out attempts to block transparency, retaliation against those who exercise their rights to information, and the most ridiculous examples of incompetence by government officials who handle these public records.

The Corporate Eclipse Award - Google, Amazon, and Facebook

The Unnecessary Box Set Award - Central Intelligence Agency

The (Harlem) Shaky Grounds for Redaction Award - Federal Communications Commission

The Unreliable Narrator Award - President Donald Trump, the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. District Court Judges

The Cross-Contamination Award - Stanford Law Professor Daniel Ho

The Scanner Darkly Award - St. Joseph County Superior Court

The Cash for Crash Award - Michigan State Police

The Bartering with Extremists Award - California Highway Patrol

The Preemptive Shredding Award - Inglewood Police Department

The What the Swat? Award - Nova Scotia and Halifax Law Enforcement

The Outrageous Fee Request of the Year - City of Seattle

The Intern Art Project Award - Vermont Gov. Phil Scott

The Least Transparent Employer Award - U.S. Department of Justice

The Clawback Award - The Broward County School Board

The Wrong Way to Plug a Leak Award - City of Greenfield, California

If it Looks like a Duck Award - Brigham Young University Police

The Insecure Security Check Award - U.S. Postal Service

The Corporate Eclipse Award - Google, Amazon, and Facebook

Sunshine laws? Tech giants think they can just blot those out with secretive contracts. But two nonprofit groups—Working Partnerships and the First Amendment Coalition—are fighting this practice in California by suing the city of San Jose over an agreement with Google that prevents city officials from sharing the public impacts of development deals, circumventing the California Public Records Act.

Google’s proposed San Jose campus is poised to have a major effect on the city’s infrastructure, Bloomberg reported. Yet, according to the organization’s lawsuit, records analyzing issues of public importance such as traffic impacts and environmental compliance were among the sorts of discussions Google demanded be made private under their non-disclosure agreements.

And it’s not just Google using these tactics. An agreement between Amazon and Virginia includes a provision that the state will give the corporate giant—which is placing a major campus in the state—a heads-up when anyone files a public records request asking for information about them. The Columbia Journalism Review reported Facebook has also used this increasingly common strategy for companies to keep cities quiet and the public in the dark about major construction projects.

The Unnecessary Box Set Award - Central Intelligence Agency

Courtesy of National Security Counselors

After suing the CIA to get access to information about Trump’s classified briefings, Kel McClahanan of the National Security Law Center was expecting the agency to send over eight agreed-upon documents.

What he was not expecting was for the files—each between three and nine pages each—-to be spread out across six separate CD-ROMs, each burned within minutes of each other, making for perhaps the most unnecessary box set in the history of the compact disc.

What makes this “extra silly,” McClanahan said, is that the CIA has previously complained about how burdensome and costly fulfilling requests can be. Yet the CIA could have easily combined several requests onto the same disc and saved themselves some time and resources. After all, a a standard CD-ROM can hold 700 MB, and all of the files took only 304 MB of space.

The (Harlem) Shaky Grounds for Redaction Award - Federal Communications Commission

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After repealing the Open Internet Order and ending net neutrality, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai doubled down on his efforts to ruin online culture. He released a cringe-inducing YouTube video titled “7 Things You Can Still Do on the Internet After Net Neutrality" that featured his own rendition of the infamous “Harlem Shake” meme. (For the uninitiated, the meme is characterized by one person subtly dancing in a room of people to Baauer’s track “Harlem Shake.” Then the bass drops and the crowd goes nuts, often with many people in costumes.)

Muckrock editor JPat Brown filed a Freedom of Information Act request for emails related to the video, but the FCC rejected the request, claiming the communications were protected “deliberative” records.

Brown appealed the decision, and the FCC responded by releasing all the email headers, while redacting the contents, claiming that anything more would cause “foreseeable harm.” Brown did not relent, and a year later the FCC capitulated and released the unredacted emails.

“So, what did these emails contain that was so potentially damaging that it was worth risking a potential FOIA lawsuit over?” Brown writes. “Pai was curious when it was going live, and the FCC wanted to maintain a veto power over the video if they didn’t like it.” The most ridiculous redaction of all was a tiny black box in an email from the FCC media director. Once removed, all that was revealed was a single word: “OK.”

The Unreliable Narrator Award - President Donald Trump, the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. District Court Judges

When President Trump tweets attacks about the intelligence community, transparency groups and journalists often file FOIA requests (and subsequently lawsuits) seeking the documents that underpin his claims. The question that often comes up: Do Trump’s smartphone rants break the seal of secrecy on confidential programs?

The answer seems to be no. Multiple judges have sided with Justice Department lawyers, concluding that his Twitter disclosures do not mean that the government has to confirm or deny whether records about those activities exist.

In a FOIA case seeking documents that would show whether Trump is under investigation, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said that the President’s tweets to that effect are “speculation.” Similarly, in a FOIA suit to get more information about the widely publicized dossier of potential ties between Trump and Russia, U.S. District Judge Amir Mehta said that the President’s statements are political rather than “assertions of pure fact.”

And so, whether Trump actually knows what he’s talking about remains an open question.

The Cross-Contamination Award - Stanford Law Professor Daniel Ho

One of the benefits of public records laws is they allow almost anyone—regardless of legal acumen—to force government agencies to be more transparent, usually without having to file a lawsuit.

But in Washington State, filing a public records request can put the requester at legal risk of being named in a lawsuit should someone else not want the records to be made public.

This is what happened to Sarah Schacht, a Seattle-based open government advocate and consultant. For years Schacht has used public records to advocate for better food safety rules in King County, an effort that led to the adoption of food safety placards found in restaurants in the region.

After Schacht filed another round of requests with the county health department, she received a legal threat in November 2018 from Stanford Law School professor Daniel Ho’s attorney threatening to sue her unless she abandoned her request. Apparently, Ho has been working with the health department to study the new food safety and placard regulations. He had written draft studies that he shared with the health department, making them public records.

Ho’s threat amounted to an effort to intimidate Schacht from receiving public records, probably because he had not formally published his studies first. Regardless of motive, the threat was an awful look. But even when faced with the threat, Schacht refused to abandon her request.

Fortunately, the lawsuit never materialized, and Schacht was able to receive the records. Although Ho’s threats made him look like a bully, the real bad actor in this scenario is Washington State’s public records law. The state’s top court has interpreted the law to require parties seeking to stop agencies from releasing records (sometimes called reverse-FOIA suits) to also sue the original requester along with the government agency.

The Scanner Darkly Award - St. Joseph County Superior Court

Courtesy of Jessica Huseman

ProPublica reporter Jessica Huseman has been digging deep into the child welfare system and what happens when child abuse results in death. While following up on a series of strangulations, she requested a copy of a case file from the St. Joseph County Superior Court in Indiana. Apparently, the clerk on the other end simply took the entire file and ran everything through a scanner. The problem was that the file contained a CD-ROM, and that’s not how CD-ROMs work. “Well this is the first time this had happened,” Huseman posted to Twitter, along with the blotchy black-and-white image of the top of the disc. “They scanned a CD as part of my FOI and didn’t give me its contents. Cool cool.”

The Cash for Crash Award - Michigan State Police

As tech companies experiment with autonomous vehicles on public roadways, reporters are keeping tabs on how often these cars are involved in collisions. That’s why The Information’s Matt Drange has been filing records requests for the crash data held by state agencies. Some government departments have started claiming that every line of the dataset is its own, individual record and subject to a copy fee. Our winner, the Michigan State Police, proposed to charge Drange a 25-cent fee for each of a 1.9 million-line dataset, plus $20 for a thumbdrive, for a grand total of $485,645.24, with half of it due up front. Runners-up that quoted similar line-by-line charges include the Indiana State Police ($346,000) and the North Carolina Department of Transportation ($82,000). Meanwhile, Florida’s government released its detailed dataset at no charge at all.

The Bartering with Extremists Award - California Highway Patrol

In 2016, the Traditionalist Worker Party (TWP), an infamous neo-Nazi group, staged a demonstration at the California State Capitol. Counter-protesters fiercely opposed the demonstration, and the scene soon descended into chaos, leaving multiple people injured. When the dust settled, a member of the public (disclosure: also a co-author of this piece) filed a California Public Records Act request to obtain a copy of the permit the white nationalist group filed for its rally. The California Highway Patrol rejected the request for this normally available document, claiming it was related to a criminal investigation.

Two years later, evidence emerged during criminal proceedings that a CHP detective used the public records request as a bargaining chip in a phone call with the TWP protest leader, who was initially reluctant to provide information. The officer told him how the request might reveal his name. “We don’t have a reason to...uh...deny [the request],” the officer said according a transcript of the call. But once the organizer decided to cooperate, the officer responded, “I’m gonna suggest that we hold that or redact your name or something...uh...until this thing gets resolved.” In light of these new facts, the First Amendment Coalition filed a new request for the same document. It too was denied.

The Preemptive Shredding Award - Inglewood Police Department

In defiance of the law enforcement lobby, California legislators passed a law (SB 1421) requiring police and sheriffs to disclose officer misconduct records in response to California Public Records Act requests. These documents, often contained in personnel files, had historically been untouchable by members of the public and the press.

Almost immediately, police unions across the Golden State began to launch lawsuits to undermine these new transparency measures. But the Inglewood Police Department takes the prize for its efforts to evade scrutiny. Mere weeks before the law took effect on Jan. 1, 2019, the agency began destroying records that were set to become publicly available.

“This premise that there was an intent to beat the clock is ridiculous,” Inglewood Mayor James T Butts Jr. told the LA Times in defending the purge. We imagine Butts would find it equally ridiculous to suggest that the fact he had also been a cop for more than 30 years, including serving in Inglewood and later as police chief of Santa Monica, may have factored into his support for the destruction of records.

The What the Swat? Award - Nova Scotia and Halifax Law Enforcement

One Wednesday morning in April, 15 Halifax police officers raided the home of a teenage boy and his family. “They read us our rights and told us not to talk," his mother would later tell CBC. “They rifled through everything. They turned over mattresses, they took drawers and emptied out drawers, they went through personal papers, pictures. It was totally devastating and traumatic."

You might well wonder, what was the Jack Bauer-class threat to geo-political stability? Nothing at all: The Canadian teen had just downloaded a host of public records from openly available URLs on a government website.

At the heart of the ordeal was some seriously terrible security practices by Nova Scotia officials. The website created to host the province’s public records was designed in such a way that every request and response had a nearly identical URL and placed no technical restrictions on the public’s ability to access any of the requests. This meant that regular public records requests and individuals’ requests to access government files about them, which included private information, were all stored together and available on the internet for anyone, including Google’s webcrawler, to access. All that was necessary was changing a number identifying the request at the end of the URL.

What Nova Scotian officials should have done upon learning about leaks in their own public records website’s problems was apologize to the public, thank the teen who found these gaping holes in their digital security practices, and implement proper restrictions to protect people’s private information. They didn’t do any of that, and instead sought to improperly bring the force of Canada’s criminal hacking law down on the very person who brought the problem to light.

The whole episode—which thankfully ended with the government dropping the charges—was a chilling example of how officials will often overreact and blame innocent third parties when trying to cover up for their own failings. This horror show just happened to involve public records. Do better, Canada.

The Outrageous Fee Request of the Year - City of Seattle

When self-described transparency advocate and civic hacker Matt Chapman sent his request to Seattle seeking the email metadata from all city email addresses (from/to/BCC addresses, time, date, etc), he expected some pushback, because it does sound like an incredible amount of data to wrangle.

Seattle’s response: All the data can be yours for a measly $33 million. Officials estimated that it would take 320 years worth of staff time to review the roughly 32 million emails responsive to Chapman’s request. Oh, and they estimated charging an additional $21,600 for storage costs associated with the records. The fee request is the second highest in the history of The Foilies (the Department of Defense won in 2016 for estimating it would take $660 million to produce records on a particular computer forensic tool).

Then the city did something entirely unexpected: It revisited the fee estimate and determined that the first batch of records would cost only $1.25 to process. We get it, math is hard.

But wait—that’s not all. After paying for the batches of records with a series of $1.25 checks, Chapman received more than he ever bargained for. Rather than disclosing just the metadata for all 32 million emails, Seattle had given him the first 256 characters of every email. Those snippets included passwords, credit card numbers, and other personally identifying information.

What followed was a series of conversations between Chapman, Seattle’s lawyers, and the city’s IT folks to ensure he’d deleted the records and that the city hadn’t just breached its own data via a public records request.

Ultimately, Seattle officials in January 2018 began sending the data to Chapman once more, this time without the actual content of email messages. The whole episode doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in Seattle officials’ ability to do basic math, comply with the public records law or protect sensitive information.

The Intern Art Project Award - Vermont Gov. Phil Scott

Seattle isn’t the only city to stumble in response to Matt Chapman’s public records requests for email metadata. The Vermont governor’s office also wins for its scissor-and-glue approach to releasing electronic information.

Rather than export the email information as a spreadsheet, the Vermont governor’s office told Chapman it had five interns (three of whom were unpaid) working six hours each, literally “cutting and pasting the emails from paper copies.” Next thing Chapman knew, he had a 43-page hodgepodge collage of email headers correlating with one day’s worth of messages. The governor’s attorney told Chapman it would cost $1,200 to process three more days’ worth of emails.

Chapman pushed back and provided his own instructions on exporting the data using a computer and not, you know, scissors and glue. Sure enough, he received a 5,500-line spreadsheet a couple weeks later at no charge.

The Least Transparent Employer Award - U.S. Department of Justice

In the last few years, we’ve seen some great resignation letters from public servants, ranging from Defense Secretary James Mattis telling President Trump “It’s not me, it’s you” to former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ forced resignation.

But the Trump DOJ seems to have had enough of the tradition and has now determined that U.S. Attorney resignation letters are private in their entirety and cannot be released under the Freedom of Information Act. Of course, civil servants should have their private information protected by their employer, but that’s precisely what redactions should be used to protect.

Past administrations have released resignation letters that are critical of executive branch leaders. The change in policy raises the question: What are departing U.S. Attorneys now saying that the government wants to hide?

The Clawback Award - The Broward County School Board

After the tragic Parkland shooting, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel went to court to force the Broward County School Board to hand over documents detailing the shooter’s education and disciplinary record. A judge agreed and ordered the release, as long as sensitive information was redacted.

But when reporters copied and pasted the file into another document, they found that the content under the redactions was still there and readable. They broke the story of how the school denied the shooter therapeutic services and alternative education accommodations, but then uploaded the school board’s report with working redactions.

Rather than simply do better with double-checking their redactions next time, the school board struck back at the newspaper. They petitioned the court to hold the newspaper in contempt and to prevent anyone from reporting on the legally obtained information. Although the local judge didn’t issue a fine, she lambasted the paper and threatened to dictate exactly what the paper could report about the case in the future (which is itself an unconstitutional prior restraint).

The Wrong Way to Plug a Leak Award - City of Greenfield, California

The Monterey County Weekly unexpectedly found itself in court after the city of Greenfield, California sued to keep the newspaper from publishing documents about the surprising termination of its city manager.

When Editor Sara Rubin asked the interim city manager for the complaint the outgoing city manager filed after his termination, she got nothing but crickets. But then, an envelope containing details of a potential city political scandal appeared on the doorstep of one of the paper’s columnists.

The weekly reached out to the city for comment and began preparing for its normal Wednesday print deadline. Then, the morning of publication, the paper got a call saying that they were due in court. The city sued to block publication of the documents, to have the documents returned and to have the paper reveal the identity of the leaker.

Attorney Kelly Aviles of the First Amendment Coalition gave everyone a fast lesson in the First Amendment, pointing out that the paper had every right to publish. The judge ruled in the paper’s favor, and the city ended up paying all of the Monterey County Weekly’s attorney fees.

If it Looks like a Duck Award - Brigham Young University Police

Brigham Young University’s Police Department is certified by the state,* has the powers of the state, but says that they’re not actually a part of government for purposes of the Utah transparency law.

After the Salt Lake Tribune exposed that the University punished survivors of sexual assault for coming forward and reporting, the paper tried to get records of communications between the police department and the school’s federally required sexual assault coordinator. BYU pushed back, saying that the police department is not subject to Utah’s Government Records Access and Management Act because the police department is privately funded.

This actually turns out to be a trickier legal question than you’d expect. Brigham Young University itself isn’t covered by the state law because it is a private school. But the university police force was created by an act of the Utah legislature, and the law covers entities “established by the government to carry out the public’s business.” Investigating crime and arresting people seems like the public’s business.

Last summer, a judge ruled that the police department is clearly a state agency, but the issue is now on appeal at the Utah Supreme Court. Sometime this year we should learn if the police are a part of the government or not.

*Because BYU police failed to comply with state law, and was not responsive to an internal investigation, the Utah Office of Public Safety notified the department on February 20th that the BYU police department will be stripped of its certification on September 1, 2019. The University police also plan to appeal this decision.

The Insecure Security Check Award - U.S. Postal Service

Congressional elections can turn ugly, but the opponent of newly elected U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger got a boost when the U.S. Postal Service released Spanberger’s entire personnel file, including her security clearance application, without redaction of highly sensitive personal information.

When a third party requests a person’s federal employment file without the employee’s permission, the government agency normally releases only a bare-bones record of employment dates, according to a Postal Service spokesperson. But somehow Rep. Spanberger wasn’t afforded these protections, and the Postal Service has potentially made this mistake in a “small number” of other cases this year. Security clearance applications (Form SF-86) are supposed to be analyzed and investigated by the FBI, raising questions about how the FOIA officer got the information in the first place. The Postal Service has apologized for the mistake, which they say is human error, but maybe security clearance applications should be kept just as secure as the state secrets the clearance is meant to protect.

The Foilies were compiled by Electronic Frontier Foundation Senior Investigative Researcher Dave Maass, Staff Attorney Aaron Mackey, Frank Stanton Fellow Camille Fischer, and Activist Hayley Tsukayama. Illustrations by EFF Art Director Hugh D'Andrade. For more on our work visit eff.org.

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poetryofchrist · 7 years ago

Text

Judges 5

This is a psalm - and it appears to allude to other Psalms. Verse 3 reflects Psalm 2.2. Verse 4 reflects Psalm 68.9 - a very odd insertion into the poem as if a later interpreter were pointing out what we sovereigns and rule-makers should know. Verse 5 reflects Psalm 97.5. Verse 16 alludes to Psalm 68.14 and Genesis 49.14. This was an unexpected trio. For its rarity, I should probably read them all with one rather than two glosses (ash-heaps or hearth-stones, also used as ordained in Psalm 22.16). Psalms 68 and Judges 5 share nearly 50% of their words, including 14 stems in the same sequence between Psalms 68:9-14 and Judges 5:4-16. Towards the end, verse 31, there is just a hint of Psalm 19. (Additional note below on verse 2.)

Judges 5 Fn Min Max Syll וַתָּ֣שַׁר דְּבוֹרָ֔ה וּבָרָ֖ק בֶּן־אֲבִינֹ֑עַם בַּיּ֥וֹם הַה֖וּא לֵאמֹֽר 1 Then sang Deborah and Baraq, child of Abinoam, in that day, saying, 3e 4B 14 6 בִּפְרֹ֤עַ פְּרָעוֹת֙ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בְּהִתְנַדֵּ֖ב עָ֑ם בָּרֲכ֖וּ יְהוָֽה 2 Disheveled were the premiers in Israel. The people willingly offered themselves. Bless Yahweh. 3e 4C 15 5 שִׁמְע֣וּ מְלָכִ֔ים הַאֲזִ֖ינוּ רֹֽזְנִ֑ים אָֽנֹכִ֗י לַֽיהוָה֙ אָנֹכִ֣י אָשִׁ֔ירָה אֲזַמֵּ֕ר לַֽיהוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל 3 Hear sovereigns. Lend an ear, rule-makers. I to Yahweh, I myself will sing. I will sing a psalm, to Yahweh, the God of Israel. 3e 4B 11 22 יְהוָ֗ה בְּצֵאתְךָ֤ מִשֵּׂעִיר֙ בְּצַעְדְּךָ֙ מִשְּׂדֵ֣ה אֱד֔וֹם אֶ֣רֶץ רָעָ֔שָׁה גַּם־שָׁמַ֖יִם נָטָ֑פוּ גַּם־עָבִ֖ים נָ֥טְפוּ מָֽיִם 4 Yahweh, when you go forth from Seir, when you march from the fields of Edom, earth quaked, even the heavens dropped, even thick clouds dropped water. 3e 4C 27 7 הָרִ֥ים נָזְל֖וּ מִפְּנֵ֣י יְהוָ֑ה זֶ֣ה סִינַ֔י מִפְּנֵ֕י יְהוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל 5 The mountains flowed from the presence of Yahweh, (that is Sinai) from the presence of Yahweh, the God of Israel. 3e 4B 8 13 בִּימֵ֞י שַׁמְגַּ֤ר בֶּן־עֲנָת֙ בִּימֵ֣י יָעֵ֔ל חָדְל֖וּ אֳרָח֑וֹת וְהֹלְכֵ֣י נְתִיב֔וֹת יֵלְכ֕וּ אֳרָח֖וֹת עֲקַלְקַלּֽוֹת 6 In the days of Shamgar child of Anat, in the days of Jeal, caravans were set aside, and travelers on pathways walked crooked paths. 3e 4C 16 15 חָדְל֧וּ פְרָז֛וֹן בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל חָדֵ֑לּוּ עַ֤ד שַׁקַּ֙מְתִּי֙ דְּבוֹרָ֔ה שַׁקַּ֥מְתִּי אֵ֖ם בְּיִשְׂרָאֵֽל 7 hamlets were set aside in Israel, were set aside, until I Deborah arose, that I arose, a mother in Israel. 3c 4C 12 15 יִבְחַר֙ אֱלֹהִ֣ים חֲדָשִׁ֔ים אָ֖ז לָחֶ֣ם שְׁעָרִ֑ים מָגֵ֤ן אִם־יֵֽרָאֶה֙ וָרֹ֔מַח בְּאַרְבָּעִ֥ים אֶ֖לֶף בְּיִשְׂרָאֵֽל 8 He chose new gods, then a war, gates. Did he see shield or lance among forty thousand in Israel? 3e 4C 14 19 לִבִּי֙ לְחוֹקְקֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל הַמִּֽתְנַדְּבִ֖ים בָּעָ֑ם בָּרֲכ֖וּ יְהוָֽה 9 My heart to the lawgivers of Israel that offered themselves willingly among the people, bless Yahweh. 3e 4B 14 5 רֹכְבֵי֩ אֲתֹנ֨וֹת צְחֹר֜וֹת יֹשְׁבֵ֧י עַל־מִדִּ֛ין וְהֹלְכֵ֥י עַל־דֶּ֖רֶךְ שִֽׂיחוּ 10 Riders of tawny donkeys, you who sit over advocacy and who travel on a way, ponder. 3c 3g 21 מִקּ֣וֹל מְחַֽצְצִ֗ים בֵּ֚ין מַשְׁאַבִּ֔ים שָׁ֤ם יְתַנּוּ֙ צִדְק֣וֹת יְהוָ֔ה צִדְקֹ֥ת פִּרְזֹנ֖וֹ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אָ֛ז יָרְד֥וּ לַשְּׁעָרִ֖ים עַם־יְהוָֽה 11 From the rumbling platoons between places of drawing water, there they will demonstrate the righteousness of Yahweh, the righteousness of his hamlets in Israel. Then the people of Yahweh will come down to the gates. 3d 4C 26 9 עוּרִ֤י עוּרִי֙ דְּבוֹרָ֔ה ע֥וּרִי ע֖וּרִי דַּבְּרִי־שִׁ֑יר ק֥וּם בָּרָ֛ק וּֽשֲׁבֵ֥ה שֶׁבְיְךָ֖ בֶּן־אֲבִינֹֽעַם 12 Be roused, be roused, Deborah. Be roused, be roused, Speak a song. Arise, Baraq, and lead captivity captive, child of Abinoam. 3d 4C 14 14 אָ֚ז יְרַ֣ד שָׂרִ֔יד לְאַדִּירִ֖ים עָ֑ם יְהוָ֕ה יְרַד־לִ֖י בַּגִּבּוֹרִֽים 13 C Then he made the survivor rule for the majestic ones of the people. Yahweh made me rule among the valiant. 3e 4C 10 9 מִנִּ֣י אֶפְרַ֗יִם שָׁרְשָׁם֙ בַּעֲמָלֵ֔ק אַחֲרֶ֥יךָ בִנְיָמִ֖ין בַּֽעֲמָמֶ֑יךָ מִנִּ֣י מָכִ֗יר יָֽרְדוּ֙ מְחֹ֣קְקִ֔ים וּמִ֨זְּבוּלֻ֔ן מֹשְׁכִ֖ים בְּשֵׁ֥בֶט סֹפֵֽר 14 From Ephraim, their root against Amalek. After you Benjamin, among your people. From Makir came down lawgivers, and from Zebulun, those who draw out with the sceptre of a scribe. 3e 4B 22 20 וְשָׂרַ֤י בְּיִשָּׂשכָר֙ עִם־דְּבֹרָ֔ה וְיִשָּׂשכָר֙ כֵּ֣ן בָּרָ֔ק בָּעֵ֖מֶק שֻׁלַּ֣ח בְּרַגְלָ֑יו בִּפְלַגּ֣וֹת רְאוּבֵ֔ן גְּדֹלִ֖ים חִקְקֵי־לֵֽב 15 And the nobles in Issachar with Deborah, Issachar, so Baraq. In the valley he was sent on foot, in the streams of Reuben, great prescriptions of heart. 3e 4C 26 12 לָ֣מָּה יָשַׁ֗בְתָּ בֵּ֚ין הַֽמִּשְׁפְּתַ֔יִם לִשְׁמֹ֖עַ שְׁרִק֣וֹת עֲדָרִ֑ים לִפְלַגּ֣וֹת רְאוּבֵ֔ן גְּדוֹלִ֖ים חִקְרֵי־לֵֽב 16 B Why did you sit between the ash-heaps to hear the hissing of troops, of the streams of Reuben, great ones examining a heart?. 3e 4C 19 12 גִּלְעָ֗ד בְּעֵ֤בֶר הַיַּ��ְדֵּן֙ שָׁכֵ֔ן וְדָ֕ן לָ֥מָּה יָג֖וּר אֳנִיּ֑וֹת אָשֵׁ֗ר יָשַׁב֙ לְח֣וֹף יַמִּ֔ים וְעַ֥ל מִפְרָצָ֖יו יִשְׁכּֽוֹן 17 Gilead dwelt across the Jordan, and why did Dan reside in ships? Asher was seated at the sea port, and dwelt on his breaches. 3e 4C 19 15 זְבֻל֗וּן עַ֣ם חֵרֵ֥ף נַפְשׁ֛וֹ לָמ֖וּת וְנַפְתָּלִ֑י עַ֖ל מְרוֹמֵ֥י שָׂדֶֽה 18 Zebulun, a people, risked his group to die, and Naphtali on the high ground of the countryside. 3d 4B 14 6 בָּ֤אוּ מְלָכִים֙ נִלְחָ֔מוּ אָ֤ז נִלְחֲמוּ֙ מַלְכֵ֣י כְנַ֔עַן בְּתַעְנַ֖ךְ עַל־מֵ֣י מְגִדּ֑וֹ בֶּ֥צַע כֶּ֖סֶף לֹ֥א לָקָֽחוּ 19 C Kings had come fighting. Then the kings of Canaan fought in Taanak by the waters of Megiddo. Gain of silver they did not receive. 3e 4C 25 8 מִן־שָׁמַ֖יִם נִלְחָ֑מוּ הַכּֽוֹכָבִים֙ מִמְּסִלּוֹתָ֔ם נִלְחֲמ֖וּ עִם־סִיסְרָֽא 20 From the heavens, fought the stars. From their highway, they fought with Sisera. 3e 4A 6 14 נַ֤חַל קִישׁוֹן֙ גְּרָפָ֔ם נַ֥חַל קְדוּמִ֖ים נַ֣חַל קִישׁ֑וֹן תִּדְרְכִ֥י נַפְשִׁ֖י עֹֽז 21 C The wadi of Kishon punched them, the wadi of antiquity, the wadi of Kishon. My integrity, you tread strongly. 3e 4C 16 6 אָ֥ז הָלְמ֖וּ עִקְּבֵי־ס֑וּס מִֽדַּהֲר֖וֹת דַּהֲר֥וֹת אַבִּירָֽיו 22 f Then were smitten the heels of the horse, from prancing, the prancing of his mighty ones. 3e 4A 6 10 א֣וֹרוּ מֵר֗וֹז אָמַר֙ מַלְאַ֣ךְ יְהוָ֔ה אֹ֥רוּ אָר֖וֹר יֹשְׁבֶ֑יהָ כִּ֤י לֹֽא־בָ֙אוּ֙ לְעֶזְרַ֣ת יְהוָ֔ה לְעֶזְרַ֥ת יְהוָ֖ה בַּגִּבּוֹרִֽים 23 B Curse Meroz, says the messenger of Yahweh, Curse. Curse her inhabitants, for they have not come to the help of Yahweh, to the help of Yahweh among the valiant. 3e 4C 17 17 תְּבֹרַךְ֙ מִנָּשִׁ֔ים יָעֵ֕ל אֵ֖שֶׁת חֶ֣בֶר הַקֵּינִ֑י מִנָּשִׁ֥ים בָּאֹ֖הֶל תְּבֹרָֽךְ 24 Bless among women, Jeal the wife of Xeber the Kenite, Blessed more than the women in the tent. 3e 4B 15 9 מַ֥יִם שָׁאַ֖ל חָלָ֣ב נָתָ֑נָה בְּסֵ֥פֶל אַדִּירִ֖ים הִקְרִ֥��בָה חֶמְאָֽה 25 f Water he asked for. Milk she gave him. In a tureen fit for a king, she approached with clotted cream. 3e 4B 8 11 יָדָהּ֙ לַיָּתֵ֣ד תִּשְׁלַ֔חְנָה וִֽימִינָ֖הּ לְהַלְמ֣וּת עֲמֵלִ֑ים וְהָלְמָ֤ה סִֽיסְרָא֙ מָחֲקָ֣ה רֹאשׁ֔וֹ וּמָחֲצָ֥ה וְחָלְפָ֖ה רַקָּתֽוֹ 26 Her hand to the tent peg she extended, and her right hand to the miserable mallet, and she smote Sisera. She bashed his head and wounded and renewed his temple. 3e 4C 17 20 בֵּ֣ין רַגְלֶ֔יהָ כָּרַ֥ע נָפַ֖ל שָׁכָ֑ב בֵּ֤ין רַגְלֶ֙יהָ֙ כָּרַ֣ע נָפָ֔ל בַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר כָּרַ֔ע שָׁ֖ם נָפַ֥ל שָׁדֽוּד 27 B Between her feet he bowed down. Fallen, he lay down. Between her feet, bowing down, fallen, where he bowed down, there he fell, devastated. 3e 4C 10 18 בְּעַד֩ הַחַלּ֨וֹן נִשְׁקְפָ֧ה וַתְּיַבֵּ֛ב אֵ֥ם סִֽיסְרָ֖א בְּעַ֣ד הָֽאֶשְׁנָ֑ב מַדּ֗וּעַ בֹּשֵׁ֤שׁ רִכְבּוֹ֙ לָב֔וֹא מַדּ֣וּעַ אֶֽחֱר֔וּ פַּעֲמֵ֖י מַרְכְּבוֹתָֽיו 28 Through the window she leaned to look, and the mother of Sisera shrieked through the casement, Why is his chariot so reticent to come? Why delayed are the times of his chariots. 3c 4C 19 22 חַכְמ֥וֹת שָׂרוֹתֶ֖יהָ תַּעֲנֶ֑ינָּה אַף־הִ֕יא תָּשִׁ֥יב אֲמָרֶ֖יהָ לָֽהּ 29 Her shrewd princesses answered her. Indeed, she, she returned her pronouncement to herself. 3e 4A 10 9 הֲלֹ֨א יִמְצְא֜וּ יְחַלְּק֣וּ שָׁלָ֗ל רַ֤חַם רַחֲמָתַ֙יִם֙ לְרֹ֣אשׁ גֶּ֔בֶר שְׁלַ֤ל צְבָעִים֙ לְסִ֣יסְרָ֔א שְׁלַ֥ל צְבָעִ֖ים רִקְמָ֑ה צֶ֥בַע רִקְמָתַ֖יִם לְצַוְּארֵ֥י שָׁלָֽל 30 Have they not found? Have they divided the spoil, to nurture a womb or two per head? The valour of spoil, coloured cloths for Sisera, the spoil of coloured cloths, embroidery, coloured cloth, embroideries for the necks of a spoiler. 3e 4C 35 11 כֵּ֠ן יֹאבְד֤וּ כָל־אוֹיְבֶ֙יךָ֙ יְהוָ֔ה וְאֹ֣הֲבָ֔יו כְּצֵ֥את הַשֶּׁ֖מֶשׁ בִּגְבֻרָת֑וֹ וַתִּשְׁקֹ֥ט הָאָ֖רֶץ אַרְבָּעִ֥ים שָׁנָֽה 31 ~ So will perish all your enemies Yahweh, but let one loving him go out as the sun in his valour. And the land was quiet a forty year span. 3e 4C 22 11

Verse 2, פרע, nowhere this stem is used has it anything to do with vengeance (KJV). What is interesting about this doubled stem is that two differing senses are used adjacent to each other,

the role of leader, an office for which I used the gloss premier when it is not Pharaoh.

and the practice of disheveling the hair before a battle. NIV misses it.

The two senses are somewhat related. Was it first a character trait, negligence, and then a leadership role? Or vice versa, that Pharaohs and premiers can be negligent since they have slaves to do the chores?

Judges 5FnMinMaxSyll בִּפְרֹ֤עַ פְּרָעוֹת֙ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בְּהִתְנַדֵּ֖ב עָ֑ם בָּרֲכ֖וּ יְהוָֽה2Disheveled were the premiers in Israel. The people willingly offered themselves. Bless Yahweh.3e4C15 5 בפרע disheveled were פרעות the premiers בישׂראל in Israel בהתנדב willingly offered עם the people ברכו bless יהוה Yahweh

The words in the verse (the counts are limited to what I have completed) ברך bless (342) knee (18) blessing (13) blessing pool (10) kneel (1) knelt (1) went out way (1) (intensive repetition) יהוה Yahweh (6,637) Lord (1) (for an acrostic) ישׂראל Israel (2,397) Israelite (4) Israel (3) נדב prince (19) freewill offer (14) Nadab (13) willing (13) freewill offering (7) willingly offer (5) freewill (2) willingly (2) offer willingly (1) willing offer (1) עם people (1,643) beside (3) is-with-us (2) untranslated (2) פרע pharaoh (245) neglect (8) negligent (4) dishevel (3) premier (2) negligence (1) (Poti)phera (1) shun (1) (Proverbs 4:15) The unique glosses all have a reasonable explanation. I do not know to what extent I can explore these unique twists in the shape of puzzle pieces. At least I can expose them. from Blogger https://ift.tt/2jKPJrY via IFTTT

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