Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Compare & contrast Denmark & the US

See this article for the details. Just the bullet points follow. Of particular note is number 8 on best countries for business according to Forbes, since that's the only criteria used by the oligarchs and their cronies in Congress.

1. Denmark’s unemployed workers get 90 percent of their old salary for 2  years.

2. Denmark spends far less on healthcare than the US.

3.  Denmark is the happiest country on Earth.

4. Danes enjoy the world’s shortest workweek.

Senator Warren must say no to VP slot

I've said it many times before that if Warren is offered the VP slot she must decline. Clinton and her Wall Street puppet masters would like nothing more than to muzzle Warren to the point of destroying everything she has been fighting for. Surely you must know this Senator Warren? And that such an offer would just be politically expedient to win over the Sanders voters?

Neoliberalism failing per the IMF

See this article. Therein it highlights an International Monetary Fund (IMF) publication by their research division, “Neoliberalism: Oversold?” Neoliberalism has not delivered on economic growth and has only increased income inequality. It leads to devastating financial crises for all but the very top. And it does this by buying government to do its bidding while serving austerity on everyone else. You know this ideology isn't working when even the free market  privateers at IMF are sounding the death knell.

Not voting for Clinton is NOT a vote for Trump

See this excellent article debunking the false dichotomy that if you don't vote for Clinton you in essence vote for Trump. One can indeed fight Trump while voting for someone other than Clinton. And to do the latter is to in essence give up on your progressive values, since Clinton does not represent them per her record and despite her disingenuous rhetoric. To do so is to fall in line behind the corrupt Democratic establishment, which will undoubtedly continue its corporate ways so that the issue is never resolved. We have to take a stand sometime for what is right or it will never be righted.

Some excerpts:

Federal Records Acts punishment

Norman Goldman has been making pathetic excuses for Clinton's violation of the Act. His man defense is that there was no harm. He used standard criminal law that harm is one of the elements and must be proven, and since there was no harm then no crime. According to the Justice Dept's page on the Federal Records Act one can be criminally punished, e.g. under 18 U.S.C. 2071, which follows. Note that there is no 'harm' element required. And that per (b) the perpetrator "shall forfeit his office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States." 18 U.S.C. 2017 states unequivocally:


(a) Whoever willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, or destroys, or attempts to do so, or, with intent to do so takes and carries away any record, proceeding, map, book, paper, document, or other thing, filed or deposited with any clerk or officer of any court of the United States, or in any public office, or with any judicial or public officer of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

Monday, May 30, 2016

Not much of a choice


Pursuit of integral ecology

See this article. A couple of excerpts follow. The article isn't that much longer, a quick read.

"The United Nations will convene the first World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, where global and local leaders will commit to putting each and every person's safety, dignity, freedom, and right to thrive at the heart of decision-making. More than 125 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, a level of suffering not seen since World War II. The social problems are wide and deep, from war and human trafficking to the gross inequality between the wealthy 1% and the poorest 3 billion of the population. Included in the summit's Agenda for Humanity are climate and natural disasters. Indeed, 1 year ago, Pope Francis emphasized, in the encyclical Laudato Si, that complex crises have both social and environmental dimensions. The bond between humans and the natural world means that we live in an 'integral ecology,' and as such, an integrated approach to environmental and social justice is required.

Sunday, May 29, 2016

10 signs of a bad workplace

All of my jobs had most if not all of these signs. The thing was, all the companies in my profession were doing many of these things and if I wanted to eat there really was no choice. It's one reason I'm glad to be retired and no longer in need these draconian conditions to survive. Just the bullet points are provided below. See this article for the details. Most of these things can be ascertained in the employee handbook. If they won't provide one pre-employment then walk away immediately.

1. No moon-lighting policy.
2. Won't provide references when you leave.
3.  Progressive discipline.
4. Payroll deductions.
5. Dictated hours.

Republican reveals the truth behind voter ID laws

Todd Albaugh, former chief of staff for a Wisconsin State Republican Senator, testified that to what happened inside a 2011 closed door meeting. Therein the GOP openly admitted that the reason behind the voter ID law was to disenfranchise Democratic voters. Here is Allbaugh's Facebook post with the details. A clip:

"Elected officials planning and happy to help deny a fellow American's constitutional right to vote in order to increase their own chances to hang onto power. A vigorous debate on the ideas wasn't good enough. Inspiring the electorate and relying on their agenda being better to get people to vote for them wasn't good enough. No, they had to take the coward's way out and come up with a plan to suppress the vote under the guise of 'voter fraud.' The truth? There was almost none."

The twisted paranoia of the bathroom police


Elites hate competition

This article shows how those at the top of the income distribution proclaim competition as the great American way, but only for everyone else, not themselves. They are a monopolistic bunch that to the contrary do not in any way want to compete on a fair playing field, for that would jeopardize their top gun status and pay. This article proves that these folks are often not even close to being the best the brightest in their field, just the best at rigging the system for their own benefit. This includes not just the Republican 1% but the professional Democrats in the top 10%. Some excerpts follow:

"There is no evidence to support the idea that the top 1 percent consists mostly of people of 'exceptional talent. In fact, there is quite a bit of evidence to the contrary."

MSNBC admits it's suppressing the vote

The below clip shows Chris Matthews admitting that the networks, including MSNBC, will proclaim Clinton got the Democratic nomination 3 hours before the California polls close. This in effect would discourage those who have not yet voted to say fuck it, what's the point now. Plus the proclamation would be based on including superdelegates in the delegate count when they haven't yet voted. Another win for corporate media and loss for democracy.

Salon on the progressive third party

This article starts by saying that Sanders cannot run as a third party at this point. And that he would not have received as much support as he did if he'd done that from the beginning. But now that he has got the attention of millions of people, many of them young, after the election it might well be the time to organize such a progressive third party.

Many if not most of Sanders supporters have been disillusioned by the Democratic Party and no longer believe it represents them, just the corporate oligarchs. Rather than wasting time trying to reform the Democratic Party from the inside it's time to start from scratch with a Party that holds true to the values and policies the Sanders' agenda articulated. Hence it would garner massive momentum from the start if Sanders himself were to light the fire in this direction.

Winning with proper progressive framing

In Overtime Scot Adams said that Trump will win in a landslide due to his rhetorical tools and techniques. And they've worked so far, given Trump defeated all the establishment Republicans. So what do we do to counter him?

In this piece Lakoff explains why the Dems got hammered in the '14 mid-terms. And what they need to do to change that. Same applies to this day, with the Dems still making the same mistakes. Sanders had the right framing though but the Dems hated it. They will never learn, which is why it's time for a properly framed progressive party on its own. We cannot change the Democratic Party from the inside by infiltrating it, for it's too far gone and beyond repair. It's time to recognize that fact, move on, and organize around a new Party.

Saturday, May 28, 2016

Sanders on a third party candidate

In this interview he basically said that even though Clinton and he diverge on several issues, at this point he will support her because the alternative in Trump would be a YUGE disaster for this country. He admits that people don't trust Clinton's change of view on for example the TPP or the Keystone Pipeline. And that her work is to convince us she's authentic about it. So for this election Sanders is not going third party, but we can hope that if Clinton is elected, and she and the Democratic Party continue to feed the corporate beast, he'll change his tune and start turning his campaign machine into a progressive third-party movement.

Defending human rights is not being politically correct

Overtime starts with Maher asking Harris-Perry about college political correctness, which Maher thinks is rampant. Later though (4:40) he talks about liberal values and human rights that are better than others, like freedom of speech, separation of church of state, respect for minorities and women. It's exactly those values though that the college kids are standing up for, not tolerating bigotry and racism and xenophobia. Those things aren't politically correct, they're right. And college kids are right to defend them. Calling them PC is a regressive Republican meme.

Future commencement address

It's a changing world, and not for the better. Gone are the days of those bright, optimistic hopes peddled in commencement speeches, given present and future realities.

Maher interviews Sanders

On Real Time last night. They start with the recent State Dept. revelations about Clinton's emails. Sanders again blows an opportunity to address it, hiding behind the canard it's dirty politics and we have real issues to discuss. The email scandal is a real issue because it shows a privileged class that really doesn't think the same laws that apply to the rest of us apply to them. And we're to believe that she really cares about the laws that apply to us and don't apply to the privileged Wall Street class, who got zero criminal prosecutions for destroying millions of lives? Come on Bernie. This is one reason why you lost the nomination.

There are also other issues discussed in the interview below.

Trump cowers about Sanders debate

So Trump agree to debate Sanders, then backed out saying it would be demeaning because Sanders is not a winner.  I imagine he'd use that rationalization if he were President, not negotiating with Iran or whoever because they weren't in 'first place' in the world arms race. He is a chicken-shit coward.

Friday, May 27, 2016

Rap battle on The Late Late Show

Between James Corden, David Schwimmer and Rebel Wilson.

17 intelligence officers write to Obama on Clinton's emails

Sane Progressive reports on this, which I've not seen hit any major or even progressvie media sources. The letter discusses the recent State Dept. IG report and asks for Obama to motive the FBI's stalling of their investigation to resolve this once and for all. The video provides several details of the letter and the specific violations and crimes committed. My guess: Obama and the FBI will keep stalling and ultimately vindicate Clinton in their inner circle-jerk, above-the-law protection racket.

What it comes down to

This article claims Republicans that hate Trump are rallying behind him anyway because god no, not Shillary. And us progressives that want Sanders but coming to terms with Shillary's nomination are reluctantly doing the same in the opposite direction. So this is to what we've been reduced as a country: Not just the lesser of two evils but the slight difference between Satan and Lucifer. And some wonder why people don't vote anymore. Not those in charge of hell though; that's exactly their plan.

Senate Democratic agenda

As reported by Robert Reich. Sounds like what we the people want, and what big money does not. What do YOU want?

1. A constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and other recent Supreme Court rulings that have weakened campaign finance law.

2. The Disclose Act that aims to reduce “dark money” by requiring outside groups that spend money on politics to make the identities of their donors public.

Inherited family trauma

From this article:

"Emerging trends in psychotherapy are now beginning to point beyond the traumas of the individual to include traumatic events in the family and social history as a part of the whole picture. Tragedies varying in type and intensity—such as abandonment, suicide and war, or the early death of a child, parent, or sibling—can send shock waves of distress cascading from one generation to the next. Recent developments in the fields of cellular biology, neurobiology, epigenetics, and developmental psychology underscore the importance of exploring at least three generations of family history in order to understand the mechanism behind patterns of trauma and suffering that repeat."

Long before Bush

Which is why we can't believe Clinton 2 when she talks against these things.


Thursday, May 26, 2016

Taibbi on Clinton and the crash

Following up on the last post, as distasteful as he finds Trump for profiting on the housing crash Taibbi finds Clinton much more unpalatable. Why? Because the ones who intentionally caused the crash for their own enrichment are the very same ones who have stuffed Clinton's coffers with millions. And if we think that Clinton will not pay them back at our expense then we are once again the fools at the shit end of the stick.

PS: It would be nice if Senator Warren would also acknowledge this. She's railed ceaselessly on the Wall Street end of the equation but has yet to tie Clinton's Wall Street money to perpetuating the very problem she detests.

Senator Warren on Trump

As usual she's right on in her Trump criticism. She starts by asking what kind of man is glad during a housing crisis because he gets to make extra profit on the suffering of others. Answer: a man who cares about only himself. And ignoramuses want him to run the country into the ground so he can make more money? So he, like most Republicans, can destroy government even further to prove that government doesn't work so everything must of course be privatized?

And then there's Trump's attitude toward paying taxes, apparently not wanting to pay any and therefore make no contribution to what made him rich in the first place. Talk about a free rider. Trump is a danger to this country and we need to fight like hell to prevent him from taking us further down to road to perdition.

Please take the time to listen to her entire rant; it's well worth it.

County in Oregon rejects Nestles' water grab

See this story where residents of Hood River County voted overwhelmingly to stop Nestles from building a plant to bottle water from Oxbow Springs. The residents were vastly outspent but fortunately keeping local water local during a drought was more important than creating a few jobs. There are pockets of rational-minded progressives in the US that can see the forest for the trees and we certainly need more of them.

Schultz on Clinton's email problem

Following up on this post, Clinton lied that she had permission to use a personal email account for State business. In fact, Clinton never sought such approval. And she did in fact violate the Federal Records Act, which has civil and criminal penalties for such things. Unfortunately the Sanders campaign won't discuss this under some pretense that it's dirty politics. Come on, it's just the facts and it adds to the ever growing case that Clinton is corrupt and feels above the law.

56% of Americans would consider a third-party candidate

See the video below. Most of us are so tired of the false choice between Democrat and Republican that we'd prefer 'other' in the upcoming election. That's enough to win the Presidency. Sanders really should consider an independent run because he could very well win. And give up on the corrupt Democratic Party and its corporate candidate.

Fleur East

I saw this on Corden last night. It had me dancing around my studio at 12:30 am, quite a feat for this old geezer.

The establishment picks for the Democratic platform committee

Recall Sanders' picks for the platform committee of the Democratic Convention. Now see some of Clinton's and Wasserman-Schultz's picks. The latter are corporate lobbyists and influence peddlers. Recall the establishment picks outnumber the Sanders picks by 2 to 1. So giving Sanders that 'opportunity' was mere lipservice to placate the progressives, as they know the platform will significantly reflect much more the corporate agenda. Nothing will change much, if at all, with Clinton and the Democratic Party.

Maddow and MSNBC

I gave up on MSNBC a long time ago, because Maddow and the others are muzzled by the corporate management and can't discuss at all certain things. The effective liberal voices that couldn't be silenced this way are now long gone, like Olbermann, Schultz, Harris-Perry etc.

Plus she and some others like Hayes have a strong penchant for what Lakoff describes as relying on the assumptions of Enlightenment reason, that just by providing the 'facts' this will change public opinion. MSNBC management, being good Republicans educated in effective framing, knows their token mouthpieces are ineffective so gets to pretend they're providing the 'liberal' side of things knowing full well it's a smokescreen.

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Federal Records Act violations and penalties

See this Dept. of Justice page on the Federal Records Act. It is plain from this Act that Clinton clearly violated it. Unfortunately, even though guilty, she will likely not be prosecuted.

"Criminal or civil penalties, fines and/or imprisonment for:
  • The unlawful removal or destruction of federal records (18 U.S.C. 2071)
  • The unlawful disclosure of national security information (18 U.S.C. 793,794,& 798)
  • The improper handling of records containing other information exempt under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C.552), the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a), and other information to which access is restricted by law."

State Dept IG said Clinton violated its rules

See this article. No, this is not some Sanders or Trump conspiracy to taint Clinton. This is the State Dept's Inspector General. Do we really want this level of above-the-law hubris in the White House? And to always get away with it? Can we really expect progressive reforms from this captive creature of the corrupt system?  Some excerpts:

"Clinton's use of a private email server broke rules that exist to comply with the Federal Records Act."

"The IG report also notes that Clinton and her top aides did not cooperate with the investigation."

"The report says that there’s no evidence Clinton ever requested or received approval to conduct official business via a personal email account on her private server. Had she requested permission, according to the IG report, she wouldn’t have received it."

Fact checking the TPP

If you don't believe it you can read the TPP for yourself here. For example, chapter 28 in investor state dispute settlement.

Libertarianism's logical conclusion


Paige & Mark freestyle

From Monday night. I didn't post any of the dances from Tuesday night because quite frankly they were nearly as good as these.

Nyle & Peta freestyle

Here's their Monday night freestyle, the best dance of the night. It's part of why he won the mirrorball on Tuesday night. Another factor is that he has a much larger fan base than Paige, a UFC fighter that doesn't reach as many people. Paige was indeed the better dancer over all the season.

What Republicons fear most


Tuesday, May 24, 2016

The Green Party IS the progressive third party

See this interview with Jill Stein, Presidential nominee with the Green Party. She says there is no need to go in search of a progressive third party as one already exists in the Green Party. It has a very similar agenda as Sanders and is convinced that the Democratic Party is now completely usurped by the corporate oligarchy, never to return to the New Deal. She encourages Sanders and his supporters to join the Greens and dump the Democrats, as together they just might have the numbers to pull off some upsets in upcoming elections.


Capitalism, not communism, did this


Senator Warren on financial advisor responsibility

From her email today, quoting:

In just a few hours, the Senate Republicans will vote for a proposal to make it easier for giant Wall Street banks to cheat Americans out of their retirement savings. That’s right, EASIER.

Here’s the deal: Many financial advisers already put their customers’ interests first, but a loophole in the law means scrupulous retirement advisers don’t have to and it costs their customers $17 billion a year. The Department of Labor recently released a terrific new conflict of interest rule to close the loophole. The new rule is simple: all retirement advisers have to do what’s in the best interest of their customers. It’s so obvious that most people assume it already exists.

It didn’t exist – and if the Republicans have their way, it never will. Today on the floor of the United States Senate, the Republicans will publicly vote to overturn those new commonsense regulations. Unbelievable, right?

The Senate Republicans only need 51 votes today to send this to the President’s desk – and President Obama has already vowed to veto it. But the only way we can stop the Republicans from pushing these appalling bills on the Senate floor is if enough people pay attention – and if the Republicans feel some heat for what they’re doing.

Tell the Senate Republicans: Shame on you for pushing Wall Street’s agenda to weaken the new rules on retirement advisers.

Real/false reason revisited

The following are my responses to date on a FB thread by Trisha Marie.

I agree with Tom that Platonic forms (and math itself) are part of a metaphysical, misplaced concreteness projected as independent of our cognitive processes. This is what Lakoff calls 'false' reason. And yet as I've shown in the Ning IPS thread on "real/false reason," the model of hierarchical complexity, with its objective (and Platonic) math, is itself guilty of this very same false reasoning.

E.g. What I find most revealing is Common’s discussion of Plato, Aristotle and Thales. The MHC “follows in the tradition,” being “a mathematical theory of the ideal. It is a perfect form as Plato would have described it” (315). I wonder whether the MHC itself, assuming such formal, metaphysical characteristics as the above--even being a literal Platonic ideal--isn’t itself just an extension of formal operations.

That discussion also covers what Lakoff calls real reason and embodied realism/metaphysics, a different animal.


Lakoff's embodied realism though is not 'just' constructivist. E.g. see Philosophy in the Flesh (1999), pp. 5-6, where he criticizes such a view. Also Lakoff said the following about math in this interview:

Monday, May 23, 2016

Sanders' Platform Committee nominees

Sanders gets to appoint 5 of the 15 delegates on the Platform Committee of the National Convention. His choices are Dr. Cornell West, US Rep. Keith Ellison, Deborah Parker, James Zogby and Bill McKibben, progressives all. It remains to be seen though if their input will have any effect, as they will be outnumbered 2 - 1 by the remaining picks by Clinton and the corporate Chair. Plus Sanders will have no picks on the Rules Committee, and we've seen in the NV convention how the rules can be rigged to prevent any progressive input.

Scissors cut paper

And stone breaks Scissors. Paper is this case covers stone, meaning hides its actual properties with deception and manipulation.


Clinton supporter on the NV convention

In the video below they interview a Clinton supporter who reported irregularities at the convention. Funny how this never made it to corporate media.

Trump admits it

He's a lying carnival barker whose only goal is to close a deal.


Atlas Shrugged & Wetiko

I decided to go into the belly of the beast recently and am watching the 3-part movie of Atlas Shrugged, closely based on the book except that it's set in 2016. That is the dominant, diseased ideology infecting all of us, and we need therapy to get out of it. And we must also replace it with a new, healthy meme, the collaborative commons.

Also see this article on Wetiko. We explored how wetiko capitalism has unconsciously infected the integral movement in the anti-capitalism thread, which also links to this very topic being addressed at the last Integral Theory Conference. One might also check out Carlson's work on integral ideology. And this article on how the left has unconsciously internalized the system of their oppressors.

Interestingly, in Atlas Shrugged the producers decide to no longer participate in the corrupt government/business alliance and withdraw altogether from participating in that system into their own hidden Atlantis. Granted Rand called that corrupt system socialism, that definition being based on the 50s conception from Russian socialism and Cuban communism. Still, it is ironic that Rand hated that sort of corrupt fascism and her followers now are completely embedded in it.

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Get up, stand up

Are you ready to stand up for your rights?


Accepting the ideology of the oppressor

Following up on the last post, here's an article on how the liberals have unconsciously accepted the ideology of their oppressors. An excerpt:

"Ideological hegemony is the process by which the exploited come to view the world through a conceptual framework provided to them by their exploiters." - Kevin A. Carson

"It's quite a coup that our oppressors have gotten us to believe exactly what we need to believe to maintain our own oppression - that the one mechanism which can legally threaten their legitimacy, we believe holds no power. Think about that. Roughly 60% of the United States doesn't vote because they believe it's pointless. The one legally binding mechanism that threatens their power - we believe holds no power. That's ideological hegemony. That's how the ruling elite rule this country - we have internalized the thoughts which uphold our own oppression."

Wetiko capitalism

I decided to go into the belly of the beast recently and am watching the 3-part movie of Atlas Shrugged, closely based on the book. That is the dominant, diseased, US ideology infecting all of us, and we need therapy to get out of it. And we must also replace it with a new, healthy meme, the collaborative commons. From this article:

"Many spiritual traditions, including Buddhism, Sufism (the mystical branch of Islam), Taoism, Gnosticism, as well as many Indigenous cultures, have long understood the mind-based nature of creation. These worldviews have at their core a recognition of the power of thought-forms to determine the course of physical events. Various First Nations traditions of North America have specific and long established lore relating to cannibalism and a term for the thought-form that causes it: wetiko. We believe understanding this offers a powerful way of understanding the deepest roots of our current global polycrisis. Wetiko is an Algonquin word for a cannibalistic spirit that is driven by greed, excess, and selfish consumption (in Ojibwa it is windigo, wintiko in Powhatan). It deludes its host into believing that cannibalizing the life-force of others (others in the broad sense, including animals and other forms of Gaian life) is a logical and morally upright way to live."

What you get with Republicans

Them's the facts ma'am. Money buys criminalizing those who expose criminal polluters. I suppose it's being politically correct to expose this sort of thing? From this article:

"Wyoming has implemented a law that will make it virtually impossible for citizen watchdog groups, whistleblowers, and even concerned private citizens to collect data evidence of pollution outside of city limits. The law, signed by Governor Matt Mead (R) makes it illegal to collect data, outside of city boundaries, on all lands public, private or federal. It cites “data collection” as meaning “take a sample of material, acquire, gather, photograph or otherwise preserve information in any form from open land which is submitted or intended to be submitted to any agency of the state or federal government.” Essentially if you live in or visit Wyoming, taking a picture of a polluted stream as a concerned citizen for the purpose of informing the EPA, National Forestry Service or any other agency could land you a $5000 fine and up to a year in jail."

Trump and GOP in lockstep

More like goosestep. All Trump has done is make explicit with the GOP has always implicitly promoted. See this link to view a larger view of it.


Where to invade next

Is the name of Michael Moore's new documentary. In this video he's interviewed by Maher. The basic idea is showing how other countries are doing better than America because they've implemented ideas that used to work in America but were lost when the oligarchs and corporatists took over. And all those benefits other countries provide actually cost less when you include all the extra fees Americans must pay for the services that other country's taxes provide. All of which, by the way, is part of Sanders campaign. This is how you make America great again, not Trump.

Redacted Tonight on the NV convention

The first 6:45 of this video:

Sanders and Clinton reconcile on SNL

Saturday, May 21, 2016

So much for the Ayn Rand bootstraps myth

See this article. Most tend to end up where they started on the socioeconomic ladder. I know, they must be lazy and deserve it because they just didn't try hard enough. Or whatever that insipid ideology rationalizes.

"But perhaps even more striking is the strength of the relationship between parental and adult income for both sexes. Children from poor families are much less likely to work in adulthood than children from middle-class families. Only about 60 percent of children from the poorest families are working at age 30, compared with 80 percent of children from median-income families. And the relationship extends beyond the very poor; the higher a person’s parents were on the earnings ladder, the more likely he or she is to work as an adult."

Nobel prize winner in economics backs basic income

An idea whose time has come.

Rising cost of Senators

From Borowitz:

HOUSTON (The Borowitz Report)—National Rifle Association C.E.O. Wayne LaPierre used his opening speech at the N.R.A.’s national convention today to highlight several challenges facing the organization, including what he called “the rising cost of Senators.”

“Over the past few years, we’ve seen the price of purchasing a Senator surge astronomically,” he told the N.R.A. faithful. “Unless something is done to make Senators more affordable, the ability of a tiny lobbying group to overrule the wishes of ninety per cent of the American people will be in jeopardy.”

The days are over, he said, when “you could buy a Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) for little more than pocket change.”

Chomsky on Adam Smith

From this source:

"I didn’t do any research at all on Smith. I just read him. There’s no research. Just read it. He’s pre-capitalist, a figure of the Enlightenment. What we would call capitalism he despised. People read snippets of Adam Smith, the few phrases they teach in school. Everybody reads the first paragraph of The Wealth of Nations where he talks about how wonderful the division of labor is. But not many people get to the point hundreds of pages later, where he says that division of labor will destroy human beings and turn people into creatures as stupid and ignorant as it is possible for a human being to be. And therefore in any civilized society the government is going to have to take some measures to prevent division of labor from proceeding to its limits."

Size shaming

Schumer does it again.

The Anti-Corruption Act

Here's one way to get involved in eliminating big money in politics that by-passes corrupt legislators.

Establishment Dems fight single payer in Colorado

See this story. CO has a ballot measure that would provide Medicare-for-all and the corporate Dems are fighting to defeat it. The other factions against it are Republicans, big Pharma and big insurance companies. This tells us a lot about where the corporate Dems are. Of course Sanders supports the bill, as it would be the first US State to pass such legislation that benefits the people instead of big money. The Dem Party is beyond repair and it really is time for an independent progressive party.

Friday, May 20, 2016

Trump widens lead over Clinton in new poll

See it here, Trump now with a 5-point lead. The corrupt Democratic Party is delusional because they refuse to accept facts like that. They think they're going to win over all the independent Sanders supporters and instead have alienated them. There's a very real chance Trump will beat Clinton and the corrupt Dem Party just puts its head in the sand, just like they did and lost terribly in the past several mid-terms.

Krystal Ball on Clinton and Sanders

See her article here. Sanders is the best bet to beat Trump and every national poll since the beginning confirms it. In recent polls Trump has drastically closed the gap with Clinton, and in swing states like PA, OH and FL has either tired or overtaken Clinton. Why? She sucks, plain and simple. Clinton's unfavorable rating is high and her honesty rating low. Young independents won't vote for her. The Democratic Party, and the Clintons, have abandoned the working class and enrich the already rich. This is affirmed by the facts of every other election down the line, where the Democratic Party have lost badly.

Examples of platform cooperatives

The real sharing economy, not the vulture capitalists like Uber.

Brand New Congress on Maddow

Here's Maddow's interview with one of the co-founder's of an independent progressive movement currently organizing to elect candidates nationwide to enact the Sanders agenda.

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Cohen on an independent progresssive left

See his article here. Even though he advocates for a Clinton vote against Trump, that does not mean the progressives support her or the Dem Party agenda. Quite the contrary. He says progressives must remain independent of the corrupt Party while holding it accountable if/when Clinton is leading them. And we must also develop our own policy agenda and support candidates so inclined.

Common Dreams on the NV convention

See the link here. It's pretty much like other reports previously posted. And entirely unlike the spin coming from the corporate Democrats and their corporate media cronies. Following are a list of some of the corrupt convention practices:
  • Lange and an executive board secretly voted on rules two weeks before the convention to give Lange “exclusive control” over the convention and strictly limit motions, as well as challenges to rulings by the chair
  • Voted on “temporary rules” for the convention and cheated by calling the vote for the “yeas” when the “nays” clearly had larger numbers. The vote happened early at 9:30 am before all the delegates had arrived. [Video here.]
  • The State Democratic Party was provided with petitions from twenty percent of the delegates in attendance to challenge the adopted rules. Signatures were collected ahead of the convention because there were activists well-aware of what the Party would try to do with the new “temporary rules.” In fact, one of these people, Angie Morelli, was a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Party, which was partly dismissed a day before the convention. The leadership pretended to accept the petitions and then ignored the fact that proper procedure had been followed, blocking any challenges, which effectively disenfranchised a subsection of people attempting to have their voices heard.

Sanders' letter to DNC Chair

See the report here, which has links to his letter. Sanders thinks it's fair that his delegates receive convention positions relative in number to the % of delegates he won, which right now is about 45%. Yet so far the DNC is stacking the convention committees primarily with leaders and delegates that supported Clinton, while only admitting a few Sanders delegates to such positions. It presages another NV convention all over again. And further evidence that the Democratic Party is all about corporate cronyism and fuck we the people.

Stein on measuring value

"One of the things that money does is homogenize value. The neoliberal consensus we have has essentially said that there is only one way to measure value in the world and it is money."

Zak Stein on integral anti-capitalism

From the 2015 Integral Theory Conference:

"[We assume] to be integral we can't be anti-anything, but in fact to be integral you're anti a lot."

"When people say the anti-capitalist movement is green meme, to me they're using terms like green meme and second tier as substitution for actual thought."

"The principles of integral theory often talk about transcending and including. But there's a basic confusion between transitional and enduring structures. You can think about transcending capitalism, but negating and preserving it as opposed to transcending and including it in its entirety."


Our progressive responsibility

Following up on the last post, Monbiot also said that the left has no systematic program to replace neoliberalism, that it just cant be anti-neoliberalism. Which of course some 'integralists' have claimed about the FB thread on the topic, but are typically those who have failed to read the myriad alternatives provided therein. There are alternatives and we've explored them in that thread and the Ning thread. And it is incumbent upon us to promote and enact them if we are ever to overcome the injustices and inhumanity of neoliberalism. I can think of no greater responsibility for the progressive movement.

Neoliberalism

The heart of our system whose premises we unconsciously accept as the only reality. From this article. See it for much more detail.

"We internalise and reproduce its creeds. The rich persuade themselves that they acquired their wealth through merit, ignoring the advantages -- such as education, inheritance and class -- that may have helped to secure it. The poor begin to blame themselves for their failures, even when they can do little to change their circumstances."

Jill Stein on Trump and Clinton

From this interview:

"Right wing populism driven by the economic consequences of the neo-liberal policies of Clintonism, such as NAFTA and Wall Street deregulation that cost people’s jobs and their homes. As terrifying and dreadful as Donald Trump is, Hillary Clinton is part of the corporatized political system, predatory banks, fossil fuel giants and war profiteers that created him. Donald Trump is that Frankenstein, but Hillary is not the antidote. The antidote is a true democracy with more voices and a moral compass. Why is my campaign being less heard than the very political establishment that people are increasingly rejecting! This is a testimony how the political system is corrupt."



Nina Turner on the NV convention

Continuing from the last post, Turner was also present at the convention and confirms much of the previous report. She highlights how the establishment media made it into something that did not happen, and failed to report on Sanders' NV office getting shot at with guns. Yes, some people did call the NV chair with threats, yet there is no evidence it was actually Sanders supporters. Still think the Democratic Party can be redeemed Thom?

Superdelegate Bilbray on the NV convention

First off, Hartmann is the only liberal media outlet where you'll hear this. The others like MSNBC and establishment Dems are just depicting this as angry and violent Berners that have no case whatsoever. However, some facts follow. The convention website tried to pull a fast one on Sanders delegates, telling them that the call to order didn't start until 9 am when in fact it started at 7 am. This was so that very restrictive rules could be voted on that would not allow debate and no motions from the floor. Those rules were clearly voted down but the Chair proceeded to say they passed anyway. However the rules did allow for motions from the floor if petitions were signed by 20% of all delegates and submitted by 9:30 am, which the Sanders delegates did provide and were denied by the Chair without explanation or vote. Then Clinton surrogates claimed Sanders supporters got violent, and yet there is no evidence of that, none. Yes, they got rather vocal about the decimation of the democratic process, but that's on the Chair and Party for thwarting it. 

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Taibbi warns the Democratic Party

At the end of his piece on Trump and the end of the GOP he has a warning for the Democratic Party:

"Democrats who might be tempted to gloat over all of this should check themselves. If the Hillary Clintons and Harry Reids and Gene Sperlings of the world don't look at what just happened to the Republicans as a terrible object lesson in the perils of prioritizing billionaire funders over voters, then they too will soon enough be tossed in the trash like a tick.

"It almost happened this year, when the supporters of Bernie Sanders nearly made it over the wall. Totally different politicians with completely different ideas about civility and democracy, Sanders and Trump nonetheless keyed in on the same widespread disgust over the greed and cynicism of the American political class.

Moral universalism and relativism

From the archive, a debate between Sam Harris and Jonathan Chait. The link has their video debate. Following are some of my comments thereon:

This should be good. Haidt wrote an apology for conservatism in The Righteous Mind, basically framing values in their language and then judging liberals by that framing. Chris Hedges ripped him a new assholon in this post, and spiral dynamicist Bruce Gibb gave it a developmental review here. Since Harris is a moral developmentalist (and pluralist) it will be interested to see how he approaches this regressive.

Listening to the first 15 minutes I am struck by his use of right and wrong. Too often developmentalists like the Lingam say that while there are higher and better levels of morality, each level is fine for its time and place. But each level has a right and wrong, or healthy and pathological, so each level is not fine in itself. And a point the Lingam made, and with which I agree, is that the level of social moral contract and/or law should be from the highest available level, so that even healthy expressions of a lower moral level are not acceptable. As but one example, in some cultures it might be a healthy expression to differentiate the skill sets of men and women, and relegate women to the role of child-rearing and exclude them from business. The pathological version is that it's ok to beat a wife if she looks at another man. But in morally more developed countries even the healthy version is overridden and women can work and succeed in business, or science, or whatever.

I'm also reminded of Ray Harris' essay "Left, right or just plain wrong." And the follow-up essay, "Thoughts toward an integral political economy." They are still the high moral standard to which integralists should aspire.

 Ah, at 29:20 he brings in basing our values on 'realism.' Haidt keeps saying what if conservatives are 'happier' then we must assume it is the better value system. Harris replies: "Actually having our beliefs track reality, however loosely, is better in the long run than being delusional."

China's transition from coal to renewables

See this article. A brief introductory excerpt:

"Recent data suggests that China's carbon dioxide emissions fell in 2015, driven by a sharp drop in coal use. [...] A sluggish economy can explain part of this dip — but not all. China is making a long-term transition away from heavy industry. The central government is trying to clamp down on air pollution and setting aggressive targets for clean energy sources like nuclear, hydro, wind, and solar. There's a major push to green the economy and hit peak CO2 emissions by (or before) 2030.

"And yet … with China, nothing's ever that simple. Over the past year, as a recent report from Greenpeace details, some of China's regulatory agencies have also approved permits for 210 brand-new coal plants across the country — which, if built, would make it harder for the country to meet its climate targets. Many of these plants are being urged on by coal-mining provinces that have been hit hard economically of late. These 210 new coal plants aren't (yet) guaranteed to be built. In fact, key officials in Beijing are lobbying to cancel many of them. But the controversy around the plants helps illustrate just how tricky it will be to clean up the world's largest CO2 polluter. The government is trying to throttle back on fossil fuels — but it also has to be mindful of high unemployment and potential unrest in its key coal regions."

The Clintons and neoliberalism

See this excellent article. It discussed how neoliberalism replaced the New Deal starting with Reagan. So when Bill Clinton came around he and his Third Way ilk figured they had to accommodate neoliberalistic policies to be viable like the following from List A:

• Lower corporate and personal taxation to encourage innovation, enterprise and job creation
• A thinning of the welfare net to avoid welfare dependency and increase the incentive to work
• The deregulation of labor markets by the weakening of trade unions
• The parallel deregulation of the business community, and the celebration of income inequality
• The privatization of publicly-owned industries and companies, and the exposure of public bodies to market forces.


 A backlash developed after the '08 crisis when the above proved to be a failure, with a moderate return to at least some New Deal policies like List B:

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Sanders' statement on the NV convention

See this prior post. From the end of Sanders' statement:

"At the Nevada convention [...] the Democratic leadership used its power to prevent a fair and transparent process from taking place. Among other things:
    • The chair of the convention announced that the convention rules passed on voice vote, when the vote was a clear no-vote. At the very least, the Chair should have allowed for a headcount.
    • The chair allowed its Credentials Committee to en mass rule that 64 delegates were ineligible without offering an opportunity for 58 of them to be heard. That decision enabled the Clinton campaign to end up with a 30-vote majority.
    • The chair refused to acknowledge any motions made from the floor or allow votes on them.
      The chair refused to accept any petitions for amendments to the rules that were properly submitted.
“These are on top of failures at the precinct and county conventions including trying to depose and then threaten with arrest the Clark County convention credentials chair because she was operating too fairly.”



Trump is a lying liar

See this segment from Meyer's A Closer Look. It's just one lie after another, and all proven to be brazen lies. One of his big primary selling points was that he doesn't take money from wealthy donors because it corrupts the candidate. And now? Millions from exactly those donors. And it doesn't matter to his followers! Oh America, what have you become?

Carpool Karaoke

This has become a YouTube phenomenon for James Corden. This recent installment is with Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas.

Ben & Victoria improv

Following up on this video showing their polished, well rehearsed and choreographed routine, here they are in a Jack & Jill contest, which means completed improvised on the spot to match the music.

Ignorance is now an explicit Republican virtue via Trump

Trump has made explicit what the Republicans have surreptitiously been promoting for some time: ignorance as a virtue. The GOP has long derided intelligence, education and expertise as belonging to the liberal elite, not everyday working Americans. And the GOP has seen that the latter don't obtain such real virtues by destroying the educational system and creating an economy that keep us all working long hours in typically more than one job just to eat and pay the rent.

But President Obama, with his wretched erudition and eloquence noted the following in his Rutger's graduation address:

Paige on DWTS last night

See survived last night's DWTS double elimination and is in the finals next week. She should be the winner but you never know with that show. Her samba perfect score performance last night below.

My kind of morality

The Republicans are always on about morality and family values. And yet their policies create exactly the opposite conditions in this video. To be moral is to reverse such injustices, to care for our people, to provide them the opportunity to care for themselves and their families so in turn they can share that humanity with others. This is the kind of morality that puts our money and our policies where our hearts are through political action. This is the kind of morality we are voting for, the kind of leaders that will make good on their word to see this kind of world become a reality. Your vote indicates your morality folks.

Verizon strike? What Verizon strike?

This strike has been going on for a month. And it's the largest strike in recent history. So why zero network news coverage? The video below explains.

The death of the two-party system

From Redacted Tonight below. Both are bought and paid for by the oligarchs. And both Sanders and Trump campaigns have proven that both Parties are corrupt beyond repair. I hope he's right that the entire two-party system is on the way out and we eventually get a more equitable parliamentary system with the rise of a strong progressive party.

And we don't want to be like Denmark because?

Freedom maybe? Freedom to work for slave wages that don't pay your basic bills? Some freedom, huh?


Monday, May 16, 2016

Rigged Nevada State Democratic convention

Sane Progressive describes below how Sanders NV win was rigged to give it to Clinton. The YouTube video commentary provides the links showing the facts to back up her claims. She thinks, as do I, that such behavior will lead to the real progressives abandoning this corrupt Party. The Party has been bought and paid for by their corporate sponsors to the degree that they are now so openly brazen as to thwart democracy.

Ben & Victoria

Since Jordan & Tatiana retired from the competitive Classic west coast swing circuit, this is the couple who will take over the top spot for the next while. Highly innovative choreography and superb execution in the video below.

Skills needed for the new economy

See this article. I'd even assert that peer learning is necessary to inculcate complex problem solving, creativity and critical thinking. Old school education, especially now that conservatives have control of it in the US, just creates drones who have already been left out of the economy as their jobs move overseas in droves. But that's what the oligarchs want, desperate people with little opportunity to take the shit part-time jobs with no benefits or protections. The educational system by design doesn't want them with the above qualities, for then they could create jobs in the new collaborative commons economy.

Trump's misogynist sexism

See this article and tell me that he's not sexist, or that these things are just falsely twisted by political correctness. If you can then welcome to Trump's misogynist world, as you're one too.

Reich also not so hot on Bill as economic advisor

Following up on this post, Robert Reich also has something to say about Bill Clinton being in charge of the economy. From his FB post:

"Hillary Clinton said yesterday that if elected president she’d put Bill Clinton “in charge of revitalizing the economy … because, you know, he knows how to do it.” The announcement suggests several things:

"In linking herself to the successes of Bill Clinton’s economic policies she also risks linking herself to the failures of those policies. I’m proud to have been part of his economic team, but those failings weren’t insignificant. Among them:

Statistics on murdering US police

Note we don't hear any of this from conservative media, the NRA or racist Trump and his supporters. I know, for them facts are just political correctness.

"Seventy-one percent of police who've been shot and killed this year weren't murdered by black men with cornrows or hoodies. They weren't gunned down by Latino gang members in low-rider drive-bys. Those stereotypes would be too convenient. Instead, 71% of police who've been shot and killed so far in 2016 have been killed by good old-fashioned white men."

Bill Clinton in charge of the economy?

Under a Shillary Presidency? Democratic Socialists of America make a good rebuttal on FB on Bill's past economic 'accomplishments':

✅ Selling out American labor via NAFTA
✅ Removing the social safety net via Welfare Reform
✅ Pushing the DNC further to the right with Neoliberal Third Way policies
✅ Deregulating the housing market resulting in the 2008 Economic Crisis



Dancing with the Devil

But can't dance with a sane President? That is some damning evidence of just how sick the Republicans have become.


The squeeze is on


Sisterhood of the traveling banks


Sunday, May 15, 2016

The great American bathroom controversy

As presented by representative Grayson. It seems the 50s were much more sensible than now. Ironically, regressives say that giving equal rights to transgender people is somehow letting the latter impose on their rights and freedom when it's actually regressives not granting transgenders their Constitutionally protected equal rights. Instead of creating solutions when there is no problem, how about actually doing something about a real problem, the disparity of wages between the sexes. No, no, Republicans can't even broach that topic.

Satan is now God

Following up on the last post, Maher provides examples of several Republicans calling Trump every foul thing under the sun one minute, then supporting him the next. Talk about selling your soul to the Devil.

Hypocritical Repubicans

Before Trump cinched the GOP nomination many Republicans considered Trump Satan himself. Now they are endorsing him.


Native Americans offer whites amnesty

The original inhabitants of this country turn the tables on American whites. Good thing they didn't just ban us all a la Trump's Muslim or Mexican problem.

"A council of Native American leaders has offered partial amnesty to the estimated 220 million illegal white immigrants living in the United States. The "white" problem has been a topic of much debate in the Native American community for centuries, and community leaders have decided the time has come to properly address it."

Closer to you

Schumer's take off on obsessive and dysfunctional co-dependence that typically passes for love and memorialized in many such love songs.

Republicans host the Democratic Convention

Establishment Democrats and their Party are Republican, no surprise. Still think it can be redeemed Thom Hartmann? I'm starting to think that the very notion of redemption is itself a corporate strategy to keep Progressives from breaking from this corrupt Party, with Hartmann as their unwitting ally.

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Liberal political correctness did NOT create Trump

In Maher's  new rule he debunks the current Republican talking point that nasty liberal political correctness (PC) is what led usually sane people to vote for Trump. He counters that no, it's that stupid, racist people just can't handle facts and it has nothing whatsoever to do with PC. Maher himself has countless times criticized liberal PC and knows it when he sees it. But when it comes to Trump it's all about Trump's own racism and idiocy feeding into the same factors in his voters. Of course Maher counters with facts, but facts just don't carry any weight with Trump or his merry band of fools. To them, facts = PC.

Michael Moore on the Flint water hate crime

Both Democrats and Republicans are bought by the oligarchs

With a few exceptions like Sanders, Warren, Grayson and members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Hence the need to leave the Democratic Party and start a new one. From this Robert Reich FB post:

 "The U.S. blames places around the world like the Cayman Islands and the Isle of Man for giving corporations and billionaires secret havens to hide their loot. But the United States doesn’t require companies registered here to disclose their real owners. We thereby provide global corporations and billionaires one of the world’s easiest means of hiding their money. Yesterday the chief minister of the Isle of Man charged that nearly 10 times more shell companies were registered in one building in Delaware than in his entire territory. Researchers in the U.S. and Australia have concluded it’s 'easier to obtain an untraceable shell company ... in the U.S. than in any other country save Kenya.'

Where you are is who you are

See this article on a new study in Frontiers in Psychology. It adds support to Lakoff et al's work on spatial image schemas and how they shape later cognitive developments. But it adds how shaping space in living and working environments limit or expand on those image schemas, which in turn affect the shape and extent of our worldviews.

In terms of education, I'm thinking of those rigid and uncomfortable hard wooden desks we had in elementary school. And how the chairs were organized all to the front, the teacher being the sole authority. Now some school chairs are more ergonomic. And some classrooms are organized more in circular shapes to promote dialogue with the teacher and other students, a different shaping of our worldview.

Senate Democrats shut down Obama's trade deal

It's about time some Democrats grew a spine and stood up to these disastrous trade deals. The progressives have led the fight and convinced some heretofore spineless Dems that such deals hurt the working class. Since some of these said Dems are up for reelection they of course are more concerned with retaining power than helping we the people so went along with the agenda. Not quite what we want in a representative but we'll take it for now.

Body levels

Continuing from this post, syntegrality answers with body-emotion-mind-spirit well integrated, while noting that each of those domains are not levels sublated (transcended and included) into mind or spirit but all developed to the same level and coordinated by dynamic structural coupling.

Wilber agrees with the notion of the body having its own levels. (Same applies to emotions.) On p. 9 of excerpt G matter is not the lowest rung on the great chain but is the exterior of every level. Hence even the highest levels of consciousness are not meta-physical. Each one has a 'body.' As gross form complexifies (human brain) there are corresponding subtle energy bodies (18). However on 19 he still uses traditional Vedanta to interpret these subtle bodies. But they are still tied to the complexification of the brain: "These subtle fields cannot be reduced to matter, but neither are they ontologically disconnected from matter altogether" (20). Figure 7 shows this relationship to brain structure (21). Psychic (mental) energy emerges with triune brains (24). Causal and nondual are related to the overmind and supermind (28).

On 36 though he goes back to the traditional Vedanta-Vajrayana interpretation of these bodies. See table 2 on 37. He here brings in waking, dreaming and deep sleep to correspond with gross, subtle and causal bodies. And also the difference between states and stages. He admits though that "I have incorporated those aspects, virtually unchanged, in my own model of Integral Psychology" (40). And therein lies the problem. I've recontextualized this system keeping the notion that each level must have a body without keeping the "virtually unchanged" metaphysical tenets inherent to this paradigm. See for example the "states, stages" thread and the "postmeta definition of states" thread.

Friday, May 13, 2016

Subprime mortgage whistleblowers

This same type of corruption was going on when I was a senior professional liability insurance underwriter, and why I decided to retire. Fraud is now a business model. And one that gets away with it because they pay off politicians and regulators. Hence zero criminal prosecutions in the bank crisis. Which practice, by the way, will keep going with the likes of Clinton or Trump in the White House.

Transviolet

For all you color-creaming cronies, it's time to go beyond your highest ultra-violet stage-state into Transviolet as a New Bohemian.

From this interview:

JM: What is the meaning behind the name “Transviolet”?

Transviolet: We were racking our minds for a band name for a long time, and it’s tough to find something that four artists, let alone people, can just all agree on — that this is the name for the band, forever. We were laying in our living room one day, reading pretentious poetry, all this stuff. We read this one that kept speaking about violet. It stuck out to us and Sarah looked it up, and it turns out that violet is a color rarely found in nature. It’s known as a combination of red and blue, which is yin and yang, respectively. We loved the idea of dichotomy in the band name, left and right, war and peace, love and hate. I think our music is a new perspective [on] understanding, it’s connecting [one thing to another that] you might not necessarily [connect] in your busy life. Then through that, trans just means across, beyond and through, and we just loved the aesthetic [of the name]. It just felt right to us.


Slave labor = FREEDOM

At least to conservatives. See this Hartmann interview with a Heritage Foundation stooge. Thom doesn't give him an inch on all his specious claims. Cheap foreign made products come to us as a result of slave labor. And that is justified so that we can have the freedom to choose to pay less for our selfish preferences? Yes, we are free to be self-indulgent assholes. That others work 16-hour days with no benefits and little to no health and safety protections is of no consequence in this narcissistic consumer world. And that is our freedom? What about the freedom of the slave laborers?

Different kinds of lip service

Following up on this post, Barney Frank is named in the Dodd-Frank bill that nominally put some sane restrictions on the banksters. It's the same bill that Clinton keeps praising as THE solution for bank corruption, not breaking them up or reinstalling Glass-Steagall. That Frank IS now a big bankster, and Clinton gets a lot of money from the banksters, should tell us something about that bill, which is little enforced and eroded by the day by said banksters and their cronies in Congress. It's just more lip service to we the people while giving a different kind of lip service (that is, fellatio) to the banksters.

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Clinton loves Hamilton

As long is it revolves around her.

Regressives want their country back

Literally, back in time.


Bankster to help write Democratic platform

See the video below. Barney Frank, a Clinton supporter, has been appointed to the Democratic Party's standing committee that will help write the platform. His current job? He's on the board of a bank that is being sued for a ponzi scheme. So still think the Sanders populist movement will have any say in influencing the corrupt Democratic Party platform? Let's face it: The Democratic Party is corrupt beyond repair.

No bathroom breaks for these workers

Yes, this is happening in America. Some of these chicken factory processing companies don't allow their workers bathroom breaks because they lose time on the production line. It's not like these companies are struggling to make a profit. To the contrary they have record profits. But god forbid should a worker go to the bathroom. Is this really the way you want to live?

Maddow reamed for blaming Sanders campaign

In this video Sane Progressive lets Maddow have it for saying it's the Sanders campaign and his supporters for hurting Clinton's general election chances. It ain't so: It's Clinton's record and the corrupt Democratic Party to blame for this travesty of a candidate. Amen to this rant.

Signs

A sign of the times?

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Trump's idiocracy

All the smarty pants establishment talking heads didn't count on Trump getting the nomination. So now they're all trying to figure out what they missed and its all smoke and mirrors missing the real reason. Of course they should've known that gutting education funds all these years to give tax breaks to the rich would have some effect. As Jonathan Chait so eloquently puts it: 

"Here’s the factor I think everybody missed: The Republican Party turns out to be filled with idiots. Far more of them than anybody expected. [...]  His appeal operates not at a low intellectual level but at a sub-intellectual level."

Obama nominates social security predator

The President talks a good game, saying we need to shore up social security. Then he goes and nominates this predator to the Social Security Advisory Board. Senator Warren responded in this FB post:

"The Social Security Advisory Board has two public trustees – one Democrat and one Republican. In theory, that’s supposed to promote nonpartisan oversight of Social Security. But that’s not how it’s playing out at today’s confirmation hearing in the Senate Finance Committee.

Uber's consumer libertarianism

I know Thom Hartmann knows the info in this article, "Uber's consumer democracy: Uber uses the language of consumer choice to subvert democracy." I've heard him rail against this sort of libertarianism countless times. And yet he still shills for Uber several times during his program. I guess the trade-off for getting his show more widely distributed by Westwood requires him to do these Uber ads. I'm pretty sure Westwood doesn't care what he says about libertarianism as long as he participates in it. Thing is, Westwood is reducing the markets for his show, controlling and limiting that distribution.

From this article.

"Uber uses the language of consumer choice to subvert the democratic process."

 "Last summer, as Judge Sean Dunphy threw out Toronto’s suit to shut down Uber, he acknowledged that the city was caught between 'the existing regulatory system' and 'thousands of consumers/voters who do not wish to see the competition genie forced back into the bottle.' Whether he realized it or not, Dunphy was speaking the language of permissionless innovation proponents, who equate consumer choice with direct democracy. Every purchase, they reason, is a vote for a product and its business model. Yet, as historian Lawrence Glickman points out, assuming that what’s good for consumers is good for society papers over the tension between workers’ interests and consumers’ interests."