8.05.2018

Catching Up


American Capitalism

Slate Money on Silicon Valley hiring practices, free lunches, and stock buybacks.

In this edition of Slate Money, they were discussing SoFi's Mike Cagney's fall and rise, specifically, when can a CEO be forgiven and be given the reigns again after a major fuck-up. I think they missed a point they had mentioned on a show a few weeks earlier.

When asked if US banks should help finance a ruthless dictator by buying his bonds, Anna Szymanski answered with "It Depends on the Price of the Bonds". American Capitalism summed-up in one line.


American Capitalism - part 2

Because they can! - ATT and Verizon force copper customers to pay fiber-level prices

Witch Hunt? Which Crook?
One thing the Trump administration has revealed is that the amount of white collar crime that goes unprosecuted in this country is pretty clearly staggering.
American Society Would Collapse If It Weren’t for These 8 Myths - Are birds free from the chains of the skyway?


Socialism

THE CASTRO-LOVING KIDS THESE DAYS - Lawyers Guns and Money touching on the Right's, and well, really the Middle's and all our Media's ability to start every "Socialist" article with the the textbook definition of Socialism, "government exerting control or ownership of businesses".

This is not what most Democratic Socialist want. We don't want the Government building iPads, or cars, or computers, etc. Those are things the market can do very well. (mostly)

Instead, we (again, mostly) want Government helping the people when the market fails them. Healthcare, support when we fall on hard times, disabilities, or old age, stronger more wide-spread unions, a legal system that allows the market to function without chewing up the people, etc.

Basically, Government for the people not for the market.

So, when you see an article with this definition of Socialism, you need to realize it is a piece of propaganda or the author is just lazy.


Terrorism

A senior Syrian scientist dies when his car blows up

Israel Choking Gaza  -This reminds the scene in Total Recall when the bad guys cut off the air to the Martian colony.


Health Care

Medicare for All makes a lot of sense - Don't vote for anyone who won't support Medicare for All!

Why Health care in the US is so expensive? Insurance companies. Fuck'em .... Medicare for All!!
The amount of your premium that goes toward medical care. ACA-compliant plans spend 80 to 85 percent of premium costs on medical care, and the remaining 20 percent goes toward the insurance company’s overhead, including marketing, profits, salaries, etc 
Meanwhile, short term plans offered by the likes of United Health Care spend just 43 percent, while others spend significantly less than that.

Trump

Trumpism - I think these type of articles give too much credit to Trump. He's an opportunist not a political genius. These are things the wingers have believed for years. Trump was just one of the people convinced, (drawn in for profit) by the conservative wingnut-o-sphere. They all drank the Kool-Aid. He just took over the cult.

Have to agree.....Donald Trump is Not the ‘Manchurian Candidate’

"This is not a man embarrassed by something unusual in his private life, lying defensively in a panic. It’s a world-weary operator in sleaze and outright deception, dealing with an item of everyday business. The euphemisms — “info,” “financing,” “our friend David,” etc. — are those of people who know they’re doing something shady. He even talks of “using” a religious-right figure. It’s the tape of a con man, discussing the con with an underling in a kind of consigliere code. And this revelation is therefore dangerous. It demonstrates that Trump is, in fact, just another crooked pol — and does so in his own voice."

Politics

I basically agree with this but still, those transition periods can get ugly. - Understanding the Cycles of Constitutional Time, or, Why Things Are Going to Get Better
Our current difficulties are a temporary condition. They stem from the fact that the Reagan regime that has structured American politics since the 1980s is dying, but a new regime has yet to be born. This is a difficult, agonizing, and humbling transition; and its difficulty is enhanced by the fact that, unlike the last transition, it occurs at the peak of a cycle of polarization and at the low point of a cycle of constitutional rot. For that reason, the transition to a new political regime is likely to be especially difficult. But we will get through it. And when we get through it, about five to ten years from now, American politics will look quite different.



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