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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Fertility is high: over 7 children per woman.
Helping with malaria and other problems without taking care of this insanely high birth rate is just going to exacerbate societal problems in the region and drive EVEN more people onto rickety boats to Europe.

People climb into thoserickety boats usuallyto avoid war and other armed conflict and/or the resulting famine. Most people would really prefer not to risk the danger of those boats.
 
People climb into thoserickety boats usuallyto avoid war and other armed conflict and/or the resulting famine. Most people would really prefer not to risk the danger of those boats.

Nope, most are economic migrants, from as far away places as Bangladesh. Note, there is no war in Bangladesh. But most are from subsaharan Africa. They are actively travelling to a country (Libya) with an active armed conflict going on right now, all in hopes of reaching EU, where it is very difficult to deport illegal migrants once they reach European soil.

But even for war and famine, high birth rates exacerbate conflicts and famines as well. So I definitely stand by my assertion that reducing birth rates to close to replacement rate should be the first priority.
 
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First priority is the out of control birth rate, agreed, closely followed by the supremacists and anti science ideology of Islam.
 
Fertility is high: over 7 children per woman.
Helping with malaria and other problems without taking care of this insanely high birth rate is just going to exacerbate societal problems in the region and drive EVEN more people onto rickety boats to Europe.
Here is what will do it:
  1. Improved healthcare and sanitation, enough to guarantee survival of children to adulthood
  2. Making birth control readily available
  3. Improved career opportunities for women

AOC back in 2009:
The terms “feminism” and “empowerment” don’t seem to capture the priorities of our generation, and the words themselves sound like relics from the past, frumpy and outdated. We no longer live in the same fight for equality of prior generations, we have moved to the widely accepted reality that marginalizing 50% of a given population doesn’t make much sense, mathematically or socially. Enabling women to learn, create, and manage enterprises is not discussion of feminism, but rather a global strategy for development.
She continued with
Is it possible to deny education to half a population and expect to be technologically innovative? Can global market-level competition be achieved without freedom of choice for one out of every two individuals? What if those individuals were primarily responsible for raising the next generation of leaders?

It is in this line of thought with which we approach the opportunities granted to women and their children, a clear departure from the “equality for equality’s sake” struggles of the past. This is a time of forward movement, and because societies tend to be as strong as their weakest player, one must look towards the marginalized in order to progress.
Equality for equality's sake??? Women were *much* worse off back then, and they had a *lot* to fight for. Like getting the right to vote.
 
That is the exact quote that says "drug consumption should be decriminalized." As opposed to your misquote "Drug consumption should be legalized" :realitycheck:

Reality check number 2................"Marijuana should be legalized," Is marijuana not a drug? Since when?

Marijuana would be the specific case, and "drugs" the general case. Transposing from the specific to the general is seldom a correct action, and certainly does not work in this case. But that's OK, you go right ahead with those deliberate distortions, no one around here trusts you to be honest when quoting anyone to begin with.
 
Seems like AOC was horribly naive about history back then. But then again, she moved in social environments where she was fully accepted as a fellow citizen.

aocasio | Culture Shock - her author page at that BU blog

Peddling Penance? | Culture Shock
We’ve made a world where 10% proceeds sprinkle karma on our transactions. Does that make us any closer to an altruistic society?

There is some credit in giving a remote cocoa farmer 0.1% of our cookie purchase; after all, it’s something. Yet at the end of the day, we still avoid eye contact with the homeless. Is social consciousness enough? What about social action? Is donating money action enough?
In effect, implying that that kind of activism is not enough.

Conscious Kicks: TOMS Shoes | Culture Shock


AOC meeting her constituents again:

David Freedlander on Twitter: "From yesterday, @aoc had a Green New Deal for public housing townhall in the Bronx. “I don’t want to hear the term free stuff ever again...I am already hearing from some of these neoliberal folks who are trying to flip the script on us.” https://t.co/ugxsCTa6r3" / Twitter
with some video of her in action there.

Senator Luis Sepúlveda on Twitter: "Thank you to @AOC for hosting an important & educational teach-in w/ residents from Pelham Parkway Houses about the Green New Deal For Public Housing Act, which will improve the quality of life for millions of Americans, and address the current climate and public housing crisis. https://t.co/7mXgpDn5Zc" / Twitter
A NY State Senator.
 
AOC strikes me as a random woman off the street who was rather clueless but cares deeply about her fellow citizens. She's made a few errors showing her lack of knowledge, but she's also shown her passion and empathy and lack of corruption, and she is clearly learning very fast on the job. Even when she errs, I remain a fan.
 
Opinion | How Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Won the Cohen Hearing - The New York Times - by doing her job. Some others also did so, like Katie Porter and Jackie Speier.

Senator Luis Sepúlveda on Twitter: "🧛🏼*♂️ HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 👻
Hope everyone has a safe, spooky, & fantastic Halloween!
We saw some great costumes today at our office from our kiddos. Trick-or-treating at its best👽
Thank u to @AOC & @BronxRiverArt for hosting such awesome Halloween parties for the children! https://t.co/sHqLyxWfbM" / Twitter

She showed up wearing a Rosie the Riveter bandana.


AOC 'runs away' from Rich Valdes at Puerto Rican Day Parade - NY Post - a potential Republican opponent
Gerson Borrero on Twitter: "This story is not true. ⁦@AOC⁩ sprinted part or all of f the ⁦@PRparadeNYC⁩ route. This clip is me trying to catch her. [url]https://t.co/Lr2TCLVfPL As far as @hitn⁩ can report the CM didn’t speak with any other press either. #factsmatter https://t.co/h8iK5faRVA" / Twitter[/url]
Running in a dress?

Gerson Borrero on Twitter: "@LuisSepulvedaNY @AOC @PRparadeNYC @hitn And @nypost still hasn’t corrected the story. As the video that I posted shows the very athletic Congressmember was energized and we couldn’t keep up with her. This dude and his cohorts are desperate." / Twitter

Rich Valdes 🇺🇸 on Twitter: "In the spirit of “todos juntos” I tried to politely introduce myself to ⁦@RepAOC⁩ at the Puerto Rican parade where we we both marching, hoping to invite her to debate the issues, but she ran away.
🤷🏻*♂️#NationalPuertoRicanDayParade #NYC 🇺🇸🇵🇷 https://t.co/URvkoG4uUu" / Twitter


Rich Valdes 🇺🇸 on Twitter: "After @RepMaloney (whom I’d never met prior) stopped to say hello to @curtissliwa & me, I saw @RepAOC leave the “todos juntos” banner to greet people. So I quickly walked over to say hello & remind her of my invitation to debate the issues on my show but she ran across the street https://t.co/tpg8K8WDdI" / Twitter
 
AOC strikes me as a random woman off the street who was rather clueless but cares deeply about her fellow citizens. She's made a few errors showing her lack of knowledge, but she's also shown her passion and empathy and lack of corruption, and she is clearly learning very fast on the job. Even when she errs, I remain a fan.

I wonder who will play "Sandy the Bartender" in the gender-reversed remake of "Being There" directed by Paul Feig. Oh, who are we kidding. Probably Melissa McCarthy.
 
First priority is the out of control birth rate, agreed, closely followed by the supremacists and anti science ideology of Islam.

The birth rate is self-fixing with education + getting women out from under the thumb of men.
 
First priority is the out of control birth rate, agreed, closely followed by the supremacists and anti science ideology of Islam.
The birth rate is self-fixing with education + getting women out from under the thumb of men.
Yes, that's now widely recognized, and that's why AOC in her college years seemed to think that feminist battles have been won, at least in theory.

Responding to AOC saying that public education, libraries, etc. are not "free stuff" but public goods, and goods that are worth building and keeping:

Noah Smith 🐇 on Twitter: "It's really nice to hear a politician using the term "public goods", and even nicer to hear them use it correctly.
🥰 https://t.co/xjN4Thoe6h" / Twitter


AOC has used other economics jargon, like "externalities". Her undergraduate degree in economics has come in handy, it seems.

manu saadia 🖖 on Twitter: "Public goods are the cornerstone of civilized society. The expansion of public goods, whether roads or knowledge, has brought us longer lifespans and more prosperous, more meaningful lives. We need more of them, not less. https://t.co/11xQ2n1agA" / Twitter

manu saadia 🖖 on Twitter: "A lot of recent economic policy advice was geared towards reducing the size and reach of public goods – under the pretext that privatization would make running them more efficient and ultimately benefit consumers." / Twitter

manu saadia 🖖 on Twitter: "Maggie Thatcher famously quipped that she didn't know what society was." / Twitter

manu saadia 🖖 on Twitter: "And those scream "socialism!" at any mention of public goods should take a deep breath and look at things like GPS or Wikipedia or you know, fire departments." / Twitter

manu saadia 🖖 on Twitter: "Don't get snookered by the mendacity of conservative ideologues, who have a very selective view of *which* public goods are and aren't "socialism."" / Twitter

manu saadia 🖖 on Twitter: "Which public goods do we want as a society is a much more fruitful debate than "socialism!" – so I'm very glad @AOC brought this up." / Twitter
 
If AOC uses libraries as an example of a public good, then she is either not using economic jargon or she forgot what she should have learned. A public good in economics does not refer to the sector that provides the good but to a good that exhibits two characteristics (nonexcludability and nonrivalness in consumption). Libraries can exclude users. And if someone has taken out the only copy of a book, others are excluded from using it. So a library is not a public good in the sense of economic jargon.
 
This is some of the first video that I ever saw of AOC. It looks like it's not long before her primary victory.

Kayla Webley Adler on Twitter: "“The game is changing and the way that people have run for office doesn’t have to be the way that you run.”
Watch this and be inspired: https://t.co/0sb7Hc4wdR" / Twitter

noting
REMEZCLA on Twitter: "Today Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018), a 28 year-old Latina running on a progressive platform that puts her community first just beat one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress in #NY14 Democratic primary https://t.co/VInZTi2Ejx" / Twitter

Even back then, she emphasized themes which IMO are the direction forward for the Democratic Party: have a bold, progressive platform and seek out new voters.

She speaks some Spanish:

Buenos días, estoy postulando por Congreso aquí en el área.
Te vas?
Gracias por todo.
Por si no te veo ahorita.
Si.
Mira porque yo hablo como así.
Mi mamá limpiaba casas.
Se acabó.

Good morning, I am running for Congress here in the area.
You go?
Thanks for everything.
In case I don't see you right now.
Yes.
Look because you talk like that.
My mom cleaned houses.
It's over.
 
If AOC uses libraries as an example of a public good, then she is either not using economic jargon or she forgot what she should have learned. A public good in economics does not refer to the sector that provides the good but to a good that exhibits two characteristics (nonexcludability and nonrivalness in consumption). Libraries can exclude users. And if someone has taken out the only copy of a book, others are excluded from using it. So a library is not a public good in the sense of economic jargon.

Maybe lighthouses don't hold the cultural sway they used to.
 
Maybe lighthouses don't hold the cultural sway they used to.
They are not as obvious as public libraries. How many times have any of us visited a public library? Or at least seen a public library. How many times have any of us seen a lighthouse?

This is fun:
NYers say Cuomo got ‘played’ by AOC in failed Amazon deal
Gov. Andrew Cuomo was deluged with hate mail following the collapse of his $3 billion deal to build a giant Amazon headquarters in Queens — with many of the missives mocking the fact he’d been bested by freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, The Post has learned.
Some 2,200 pieces of it.
“You got outsmarted by a bartender … thanks,” Patricia Kaufman scolded the three-term governor, noting the 29-year-old socialist firebrand’s former occupation.

...
“What a dysfunctional scenario to unfold under your watch. AOC has played you swiftly. WOW!” David Sorbellini wrote Cuomo.

Anne Catalano told the governor that his Democratic Party “has lost its mind.”

“Seriously? We lost AMAZON’S headquarters?!! Are you all so afraid of AOC and screaming, stupid protestors who don’t understand Economics 101??? Is she so intimidating that you and [Mayor] De Blasio couldn’t get this done? SHAME ON YOU!!!!” she wrote.

Stephen Lavery opined how “that little snot nose trashed your big deal,” then took a shot at Cuomo’s masculinity.

“I guess we know who wears the pants in New York now. Especially in the Democratic Party,” he wrote.

...
“Bye, Bye. Me and My entire extended family are now on our way out of your state to live in Tennessee,” William Parker wrote.

“It has nothing to do with the weather!!!!!!!!! It’s all to do with you. Loser!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Chris Vail, who said he lives in the Finger Lakes region upstate, said he was going to relocate to North Carolina, South Carolina or Florida.

“Your failure to secure Amazon as a new corporation to do business in the state is laughable and a testament to political incompetence,” Vail wrote.

“You and all the other NYS political self- serving hacks are an embarrassment. Looking forward to putting you and NY in my rear view mirror!”

Several abortion opponents even suggested the Amazon fiasco was God’s way of punishing Cuomo for signing a February bill that codified the Roe v. Wade decision into state law.
It was local activists that did the work of stopping it, and not AOC. Her main objection was the $3 billion in tax breaks and giveaways, like a helipad that the city was to construct for HQ2. She had no objection to Amazon showing up without those incentives.
 
AOC raised most money among House Dems during reelection campaign
AOC, a Democratic socialist who reps parts of the Bronx and Queens, raised $1.42 million between July 1 through Sept. 30, followed by House impeachment czar and US Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who netted $1.26 million, and House Speaker Pelosi (D-Calif.), who received $1.145 million.

The lion’s share of AOC’s donations, $1.1 million, were under $200.
Daniel Altschuler 🦋 on Twitter: "WOW. @AOC raised a jaw-dropping $1.4 million last quarter—more than Pelosi, & more than any other House Dem—with ZERO corporate backers.
Why? Because people across her district, her state, & the country knows she stands for something. She stands for us. https://t.co/NdoGGaCfon" / Twitter

then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "While many try to belittle a progressive agenda that centers working people & the public good, in truth it’s more powerful than ever.
I haven’t picked up a phone once this year to dial for dollars, & I don’t meet w/ corp lobbyists.
That is the power of your grassroots support. https://t.co/BDxvMETBnS" / Twitter


Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "I intentionally built my campaign to rely on small-dollar grassroots support w/o any corporate $, because I felt that’s the best way to be accountable to everyday people.
It has impacted how I work in Congress in powerful ways - ways I couldn’t fully appreciate until I got here." / Twitter


Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "There is, of course, much more time for me to be fully present at my job.
In Congress, this is a luxury. Since I don’t spend hours each day asking for money, I spend a lot more time legislating, studying, & preparing/sitting in hearings.
This has cumulative effects over time." / Twitter


Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Instead, your support allows me to spend hours each day studying issues & exposing abuse of power.
So while Fox continues to laugh that I’m “just a bartender,” I’ve spend the whole year studying big pharma, private equity, military contractors, and Mark Zuckerberg’s shady deals." / Twitter


Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Our political system’s reliance on huge sums of money has many negative impacts, but one of the largest is that it takes lawmakers’ time away from lawmaking.
That’s a feature, not a flaw - the less time lawmakers have, the more special interests can slip in harmful provisions." / Twitter


Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "None of this is a critique on lawmakers who dial for dollars - they don’t want to be doing it in the first place.
But to change this system, we must push hard to change the corrupting role of money in politics. And yes, those forces exist among all parties." / Twitter



Peter Daou on Twitter: "In case anyone needs a reminder, @AOC is redefining what the Democratic Party can be -- and should be. https://t.co/S5uxyop0Sk" / Twitter
 
AOC's likely continental ancestry:

Joey Siraata Yracheta, MS Pharmaceutics on Twitter: "PC Plot of Europeans, Africans and Native Americans, with admixed Latino Groups https://t.co/rHr9Qnlqzs" / Twitter
[PDF] Colloquium paper: genome-wide patterns of population structure and admixture among Hispanic/Latino populations. | Semantic Scholar
8 Genome-wide Patterns of Population Structure and Admixture Among Hispanic/Latino Populations--Katarzyna Bryc, Christopher Velez, Tatiana Karafet, Andres Moreno-Estrada, Andy Reynolds, Adam Auton, Michael Hammer, Carlos D. Bustamante, and Harry Ostrer | In the Light of Evolution: Volume IV: The Human Condition | The National Academies Press

Puerto Ricans have roughly 20% Native American and 0% to 40% African ancestry. So AOC is likely 20% NA, 20% African, and 60% European.

Puerto Ricans' mitochondria are largely NA and their Y chromosomes largely European and African, suggesting European and African fathers and NA mothers.

The European component of Hispanic populations is largely southwestern: Spain and Portugal. As one might expect.


She has acknowledged her mixed ancestry without calling herself black or NA -- or white, for that matter.
 
That is the exact quote that says "drug consumption should be decriminalized." As opposed to your misquote "Drug consumption should be legalized" :realitycheck:

Reality check number 2................"Marijuana should be legalized," Is marijuana not a drug? Since when?

Marijuana would be the specific case, and "drugs" the general case. Transposing from the specific to the general is seldom a correct action, and certainly does not work in this case. But that's OK, you go right ahead with those deliberate distortions, no one around here trusts you to be honest when quoting anyone to begin with.

I'm just quoting the air head! Are you denying she said that?
 
They are not as obvious as public libraries. How many times have any of us visited a public library? Or at least seen a public library. How many times have any of us seen a lighthouse?

This is fun:
NYers say Cuomo got ‘played’ by AOC in failed Amazon deal

Some 2,200 pieces of it.
“You got outsmarted by a bartender … thanks,” Patricia Kaufman scolded the three-term governor, noting the 29-year-old socialist firebrand’s former occupation.

...
“What a dysfunctional scenario to unfold under your watch. AOC has played you swiftly. WOW!” David Sorbellini wrote Cuomo.

Anne Catalano told the governor that his Democratic Party “has lost its mind.”

“Seriously? We lost AMAZON’S headquarters?!! Are you all so afraid of AOC and screaming, stupid protestors who don’t understand Economics 101??? Is she so intimidating that you and [Mayor] De Blasio couldn’t get this done? SHAME ON YOU!!!!” she wrote.

Stephen Lavery opined how “that little snot nose trashed your big deal,” then took a shot at Cuomo’s masculinity.

“I guess we know who wears the pants in New York now. Especially in the Democratic Party,” he wrote.

...
“Bye, Bye. Me and My entire extended family are now on our way out of your state to live in Tennessee,” William Parker wrote.

“It has nothing to do with the weather!!!!!!!!! It’s all to do with you. Loser!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Chris Vail, who said he lives in the Finger Lakes region upstate, said he was going to relocate to North Carolina, South Carolina or Florida.

“Your failure to secure Amazon as a new corporation to do business in the state is laughable and a testament to political incompetence,” Vail wrote.

“You and all the other NYS political self- serving hacks are an embarrassment. Looking forward to putting you and NY in my rear view mirror!”

Several abortion opponents even suggested the Amazon fiasco was God’s way of punishing Cuomo for signing a February bill that codified the Roe v. Wade decision into state law.
It was local activists that did the work of stopping it, and not AOC. Her main objection was the $3 billion in tax breaks and giveaways, like a helipad that the city was to construct for HQ2. She had no objection to Amazon showing up without those incentives.

The very idea that one of the wealthiest corporations in the world owned by the wealthiest man in the world is to be given three billion dollars of taxpayers money should be abhorrent to everyone.
 
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