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“Your friends and I want you to stay aware of your surroundings, James Ed. These days you cannot anticipate what a disgruntled, former employee might do.”
― Shafter Bailey, James Ed Hoskins and the One-Room Schoolhouse: The Unprosecuted Crime Against Children

“When there’s a vacuum of public input, lobbyists usually fill it. But when there’s public input, the people usually win.”
― Morgan Carroll, Take Back your Government: A Citizen's Guide to Grassroots Change

“When public policy is directed toward urban spaces, it is directed toward people who sit at the margins.”
― Julianne Malveaux

“Roosevelt wouldn't interfere even when he found out that Moses was discouraging Negroes from using many of his state parks. Underlying Moses' strikingly strict policing for cleanliness in his parks was, Frances Perkins realized with "shock," deep distaste for the public that was using them. "He doesn't love the people," she was to say. "It used to shock me because he was doing all these things for the welfare of the people... He'd denounce the common people terribly. To him they were lousy, dirty people, throwing bottles all over Jones Beach. 'I'll get them! I'll teach them!' ... He loves the public, but not as people. The public is just The Public. It's a great amorphous mass to him; it needs to be bathed, it needs to be aired, it needs recreation, but not for personal reasons -- just to make it a better public." Now he began taking measures to limit use of his parks. He had restricted the use of state parks by poor and lower-middle-class families in the first place, by limiting access to the parks by rapid transit; he had vetoed the Long Island Rail Road's proposed construction of a branch spur to Jones Beach for this reason. Now he began to limit access by buses; he instructed Shapiro to build the bridges across his new parkways low -- too low for buses to pass. Bus trips therefore had to be made on local roads, making the trips discouragingly long and arduous. For Negroes, whom he considered inherently "dirty," there were further measures. Buses needed permits to enter state parks; buses chartered by Negro groups found it very difficult to obtain permits, particularly to Moses' beloved Jones Beach; most were shunted to parks many miles further out on Long Island. And even in these parks, buses carrying Negro groups were shunted to the furthest reaches of the parking areas. And Negroes were discouraged from using "white" beach areas -- the best beaches -- by a system Shapiro calls "flagging"; the handful of Negro lifeguards [...] were all stationed at distant, least developed beaches. Moses was convinced that Negroes did not like cold water; the temperature at the pool at Jones Beach was deliberately icy to keep Negroes out. When Negro civic groups from the hot New York City slums began to complain about this treatment, Roosevelt ordered an investigation and an aide confirmed that "Bob Moses is seeking to discourage large Negro parties from picnicking at Jones Beach, attempting to divert them to some other of the state parks." Roosevelt gingerly raised the matter with Moses, who denied the charge violently -- and the Governor never raised the matter again.”
― Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York

“In fact, the center of our problems is political in nature. It is not with Americans ourselves.”
― David Gottstein, A More Perfect Union: Unifying Ideas for a Divided America

“Warm, fuzzy ideas and good intentions are a less effective foundation for policies than the truth. Policies based on incorrect ideas are, at best, a waste of resources. At worst, they may cause harm.”
― Russell T. Warne, In the Know: Debunking 35 Myths about Human Intelligence

“The policy debate about sanctions has been repeated almost every decade since the [League of Nations] was created in the wake of World War I. At its core has been the perennial question: do economic sanctions work? While the success rate differs depending on the objective, the historical record is relatively clear: most economic sanctions have not worked. In the twentieth century, only one in three uses of sanctions was “at least partially successful.â€� More modest goals have better chances of success. But from the available data it is clear that the history of sanctions is largely a history of disappointment.

What is striking is that this limited utility has not affected frequency of use. To the contrary: sanctions use doubled in the 1990s and 2000s compared to the period from 1950 to 1985; by the 2010s it had doubled again. Yet while in the 1985â€�1995 period, at a moment of great relative Western power, the chances of sanctions success were still around 35â€�40 percent, by 2016 this had fallen below 20 percent. In other words, while the use of sanctions has surged, their odds of success have plummeted.”
― Nicholas Mulder , The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War

“Immigration is everyone's business: it is one of the most important national issues. The idea that it is too dangerous to be debated is a mockery of democracy. It is too important not to debate.”
― Geoffrey Blainey, All for Australia

“The most [...] literal proposal to solve the problem of congestion comes from Harvey Wiley Corbett [...] Ultimately, Corbett calculates, the entire surface of the city could be a single traffic plane, an ocean of cars, increasing the traffic potential 700 percent. "[...We see] a very modernized Venice, a city of arcades, plazas and bridges, with canals for streets, only the canals will not be filled with real water but with freely flowing motor traffic, the sun glistening on the black tops of the cars and the buildings reflecting in this waving flood of rapidly rolling vehicles. From an architectural viewpoint [...] the idea presents all the loveliness, and more, of Venice. There is nothing incongruous about it, nothing strange..." Corbett's "solution" for New York's traffic problem is the most blatant case of disingenuity in Manhattanism's history. Pragmatism so distorted becomes pure poetry. Not for the moment does the theorist intend to relieve congestion; his true ambition is to escalate it to such intensity that it generates -- as in a quantum leap -- a completely new condition, where congestion becomes mysteriously positive [... Corbett and the authors of the Regional Plan] have invented a method to deal rationally with the fundamentally irrational. [They know] that it would be suicide to solve Manhattan's problems, that they exist by the grace of these problems, that it is their duty to make its problems, if anything, forever insurmountable, that the only solution for Manhattan is the extrapolation of its freakish history, that Manhattan is the city of the perpetual flight forward.”
― Rem Koolhaas, Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan

“I realized that I get to report in the halls of Capitol Hill because of the work of disabled activists who literally crawled up the steps of that very building to help pass the ADA. When people see me as an inspiration because I ‘overcameâ€� my disability to graduate college and hold a job, I want to respond that the only things I overcame were the specific obstacles in front of me. I am a return on othersâ€� investment in policy. In the same way, every autistic person who language is in classes or winds up in a group home or institution is not a reflection of poor upbringing but rather a failure in policy.â€�

~ Eric Garcia We’re Not Broken: Changing The Autism Conversation”
― Eric Garcia

“I don't understand. I didn't get my COVID stimulus. I didn't get any pussy in college. Had to work pretty fucking hard... especially when I was a kid... Im an alcoholic. Possibly because they didn't give me any pussy in college. Why the fuck did my parents drag me to America? I don't understand. I really don't get it. What's good about this? What?”
― Dmitry Dyatlov

“Corporate social activism is not a market-based alternative to government, nor should it be. There is simply no substitute for good, effective government in a democracy.”
― Tom C.W. Lin, The Capitalist and the Activist: Corporate Social Activism and the New Business of Change

“While politicians like to say that some issues are “more than politicsâ€� or “beyond politics,â€� if they were being honest with us and themselves, they would confess that the truly important and consequential issues of our time need politics and the political process.”
― Tom C.W. Lin, The Capitalist and the Activist: Corporate Social Activism and the New Business of Change

“Scaling a solution that saves or improves the lives of eight-year-olds instead of eighty-year-olds has a bigger cumulative impact over time and thus arguably calls for a larger slice of the budget.”
― John A. List, The Voltage Effect: How to Make Good Ideas Great and Great Ideas Scale

“As Augustus basked in self-praise, he became aware of a movement beyond his reflection, beyond the glass. At first he saw the flicking tail of the yellow goatfish, then a blue and gold tang, then a school of pearl wrasses. As he refocused his eyes into the tank he realized that all of the creatures of the aquarium were just across the glass, all of them staring at him. What on Earth is going on here, their expressions seemed to say.

Augustus shook his head, suddenly uncomfortable. “Youse all there in the fish tank,â€� he growled, pointing, “youse can go stuff yerself for all I care! I’m done here.”
― Scott Bischke, FISH TANK: A Fable for Our Times

“Exactly!â€� shouted Sarin the crab, now standing on hind legs. The looks of fear had subsided from the faces of the creatures. “We have a right to be happy, and live well my friends. That’s why I’m telling you all to eat to your heart’s content!”
― Scott Bischke, FISH TANK: A Fable for Our Times

“Surprisingly few tussles occurred over the falling food. ... Only Push the puffer and Hammy the parrotfish regularly stole more than their fair share. But they argued that as they were bigger than the others, they deserved more.

“Plus,� Push said, “and I don’t mean to be indelicate here, but some of you eat our ordure. Thus if we get more, you get more.�

“Let’s face it,â€� added Hammy, wanting to add to Push’s words, “that is the way the world works.”
― Scott Bischke, FISH TANK: A Fable for Our Times

“On joining the aquarium community we all agreed to put aside our carnivorous ways to live off Professor Brown’s fish food. Every one of us agreed!

If we start to eat each other, what kind of life would that be?”
― Scott Bischke, FISH TANK: A Fable for Our Times

“What about what Doc said?" asked Big Moe. "If we turn up the temperature it might hurt some of the fishes."

"Collateral damage," said Sarin. "Nothing more. I tell you what, Big Moe, we'll turn it up slowly and the fish won't even notice.”
― Scott Bischke, FISH TANK: A Fable for Our Times

“Doesn't matter what I think or how I feel," said Doc Hansom. "Just go look at the thermometer mounted on the aquarium glass. That will give you your answer."

Hansom went back to his inspections, leaving Tommy Tang to wonder why he had not thought of such a simple answer.”
― Scott Bischke, FISH TANK: A Fable for Our Times

“Initially, only the crabs demurred. "It's not hot in here," Sarin said acidly. "Nothing has changed. You're all imagining things.”
― Scott Bischke, FISH TANK: A Fable for Our Times

“What Roop says is correct. That thermometer hasn’t worked in years.â€� Sanger paused, looking around for Hansom before continuing.

Not seeing the goatfish, he proceeded confidently, “Actually, I daresay my own studies have found the instrument to be so imprecise that it is my professional opinion that the temperature is just as likely to be going down as to be going up!”
― Scott Bischke, FISH TANK: A Fable for Our Times

“Oh my God!â€� exclaimed Jessie the turtle, who alone immediately saw what the good doctor would say next.

“And I am sad to say, my friends," concluded Doc Hansom the goatfish, "if the caulking seal breaks before the professor returns, the aquarium will likely drain and we will all die.”
― Scott Bischke, FISH TANK: A Fable for Our Times

“It may be," Doc Hansom the goatfish concluded, "that it is already too late.”
― Scott Bischke, FISH TANK: A Fable for Our Times

“We are entering a new era of multiple frontier risks, including runaway technologies and complex geopolitical crises. To remain on the front foot, the world requires symbiotic foresight in public policy and highly trained multidisciplinary thinkers who can connect the dots using frameworks such as Neuro-Techno-Philosophy.”
― Nayef R.F. Al-Rodhan

“In an economy with many government interventions, skilled people opt for activities that redistribute income rather than activities that create growth.”
― William Easterly, The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics

“The only reason for a newborn to be infected with the hep B virus is that the mother who is infected can pass this virus to her child during the birthing process. Therefore, any vaccine injuries or related deaths for infants caused by the hep B vaccine for other than an infected mother are unnecessary.”
― Stephen Heartland, Louis Pasteur Condemns Big Pharma: Vaccines, Drugs, and Healthcare in the United States

“Solution #1. ELIMINATE PAYOFFS IN CLINICS TO PROMOTE VACCINATIONS. It should be illegal for doctors to accept bonuses or other incentives from insurance or pharmaceutical companies for vaccinating patients. This practice is clearly a conflict of interest.

When you take your child to a doctor, you want them to focus on your child and their health, and not on a yearend bonus some other company is paying to push vaccines. These bonuses/kickbacks provide a monetary incentive to the doctor and their office not related to the patient’s health, which is clearly a conflict of interest, and should be illegal. Without this bonus/kickback in their minds, perhaps the doctors can get back in the business of simply taking care of their patients, answering their questions, and providing them with better overall healthcare. If the pediatric office has no money dangling over them in the form of bonuses/kickbacks, then there should be no incentive to bar entrance to any family who wants to receive healthcare, unless the office is so full that they cannot accommodate new patients. This taking away of the bonus/kickback money will remove prejudice and bias against those who do not want to follow the recommended vaccine schedule, or who question the safety of the vaccines. And thereby, all patients will receive equal healthcare service under the law without bias. After all, isn’t this, shouldn’t this be the goal?”
― stephen heartland, Louis Pasteur Condemns Big Pharma: Vaccines, Drugs, and Healthcare in the United States

“Solution #2. PRACTICE INFORMED CONSENT WITHOUT PREJUDICE. Parents and their children should not be refused service by any pediatric office due to their personal beliefs on vaccinations, nor should they be kicked out of these offices for refusal to take any vaccines or by not complying with following the CDC’s recommended vaccine schedule. The doctors should be practicing informed consent, educating parents and children on vaccines and their benefits and risks, and allowing them to decide whether or not they wish to vaccinate.

Conflicts of interest should be removed from these offices, and families should never be forced to “follow the vaccine schedule, and keep up with the vaccines, or find a new pediatrician.â€� The pediatrician’s job should be to inform and advise, and not to use excessive force or pressure to promote vaccinations. Who is serving who? Parents should have the ultimate authority to decide if and when vaccines should be given to their children.”
― stephen heartland, Louis Pasteur Condemns Big Pharma: Vaccines, Drugs, and Healthcare in the United States

“Solution #3. PARENTS SHOULD DECIDE WHAT IS RIGHT FOR THEIR CHILDREN. No drugs, vaccines, or medical procedures of any kind should be given or done to any child without the knowledge, approval, and consent of the parents or guardians of that child. No federal funding for children’s services within individual states for foster care or adoption should be allowed, as this violates the 10th Amendment of the Constitution, and encourages medical kidnapping by the states. Medical kidnapping by the state and their children’s health services due to a difference of professional medical opinion in health treatments for children should be disallowed. Doctors make mistakes. Therefore, one doctor’s diagnosis or opinion should never be considered enough evidence to take a child away from their parents. The parents/guardians, along with the advice of their own healthcare providers and not the state, shall determine what the acceptable treatment, if any, for any health condition present in their children should be. Parental rights and determination regarding children’s health treatment in cooperation with a licensed healthcare provider supersedes any local medical or governmental authority.

This recent movement to take away the rights and responsibilities from parents or their guardians must stop. It makes no sense. Children are not old enough or mature enough to make decisions which could affect the rest of their lives. They are children, and do not have the experience to make such decisions. This is a parent’s job. Parents are the ones responsible for their children, not the state, the school, or the doctor’s office. If others do these things without parental consent or knowledge and the child is killed or injured permanently from medical treatments, procedures, drugs, or vaccines, then who will be responsible for burying the child, or taking care of the disabled child for the remainder of their lives? It is the parents. Therefore, parents should have the ultimate authority over their children and their healthcare until the children become adults, at which time they can then make their own decisions for their lives and their healthcare options. The exception to this rule is if the children (<18 years old) are emancipated from their parents and/or are living apart from their parents and are responsible for their own welfare.”
― stephen heartland