Saturday

Fox - Keeping the Cult in Line

The Fox top headline the morning after day-one of the impeachment hearings.

Inflation

CPI Reality Check: Where is Your Dollar Really Going? Medical Care inflation is leading the way. MAGA my ass.

Medicare for All and The Cult

I d say this is right but I think Fox is more important to the R brand than Trump.

When Donald Trump decides Medicare For All has been the Republican policy all along, they will all get behind it. No I don't think that's going to happen, but hopefully you get the point. 

The MAGA base basically needs to feel like they're Owning The Libs with a healthy dose of racism. Medicare for Everyone But Black People would poll at 700% favorable. "Donald Trump supports Medicare for All, do you?" would get a strong majority.

Our Leaders

Indiana judges suspended after 3 a.m. brawl at White Castle - The redneckness runs thick out here in Teabagistan.



Markets

The Market is almost always wrong about what the Fed will do. - So why do we believe markets work for used cars, cell service, etc?

American Crapitalism

Capitalism eating its own.




Stupid Questions

Will Carmelo Anthony Help Portland? - No....

Thursday

Tech

Probably should get those old phones and other rechargeables out of the house when you're done with them.

LESSONS IN LI-ION SAFETY and Scooter flare up

2020

Michael Bloomberg’s Ego Is an Agent of Socialist Change -  The opening pretty much says it all.

These are anxious days for Democrats who favor gated communities and unfettered trade. Americans who believe in a woman’s right to choose and private equity’s right to loot, now need a Klonopin with their morning news. Elizabeth Warren — the slayer of Summers, stumper of Stumpf, and all around bane of (finance) capital — boasts comfortable leads in Iowa and New Hampshire. In at least one of those states, a Trotskyist fellow traveler is her closest competitor. Now, the betting market’s invisible hand is pointing leftward. And those who fear that blue America is “going red” seem to have no safer bet than a septuagenarian who’s never quite sure what state he’s in (or else, a college-town mayor who may or may not have one black friend).

Which is to say: Davos Democrats’s disaffection with the 2020 field is understandable. The fact that their wing of the party has found itself banking on Joe Biden — a 76-year-old who is rambly beyond his years, and infamous for running memorably awful presidential campaigns in his prime — is surely distasteful for folks accustomed to hiring only the finest of help. But their frustrated entitlement is starting to cloud their judgment

Brazil

Brazil's former president Lula walks free from prison after supreme court ruling - I hope Lula can put some pressure on the right-wing government but I get the feeling this release is a way to get rid of him without having an "Epstein-Like Suicide in Jail" problem.



Politics

The “Deep State” Is a Political Party - I see it more as the police force for our two political parties. It would back either an R or a D but it's not going to back an outsider, especially an incompetent one like Trump. Whether it will support Bernie (or even Warren) is yet to be seen.

Secret chats involving Republican lawmaker reveal fresh evidence of plots and paranoia - Wild.. if true. Something we should be hearing about in US media. if true....

Turns Out, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Is Huge in Iowa - Wow, people like progressives!



Medicare For All

Medicare for All Is a Strategy

Medicare for All Is Even Better Than You Thought




Propaganda

Information disorder: ‘The techniques we saw in 2016 have evolved’ - They've always been out their but there's never been an amplifier like the Internet, social media, email, etc.



US and Israel

I guess you can call an old Jewish guy an anti-Semite. Enfeebled Israel lobby strikes back on military aid

Thursday

Hey Google

Nothing Newt has to say qualifies as Headline News. (Google News 2019.11.03)

The Power that Is

The Incredible Shrinking Overton Window

The Enemy Within



Health Care

What’s the most shocking health care statistic you’ve ever seen

— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) November 2, 2019

American Crapitalism

This Is a Horror Story: How Private Equity Vampires Are Killing Everything

The World Has Gone Mad and the System Is Broken

FINANCIAL INCENTIVES ARE WEAKER THAN SOCIAL INCENTIVES BUT VERY IMPORTANT ANYWAY - I think this and the underlying study make the point that "because markets" is not the answer for every problem. Markets are a part of course but social incentives, government, thought and belief viruses running amuck among the masses all play a part. Of course those in charge of our capitalist paradise don't really want to hear that.


Inequality and the Iron Law of Decaying Public Services - A good article. Applies directly to public vs private schools.

Growing income equality, holds Peltzman’s Law, “stimulates growth of government.” Growing inequality has the exact opposite effect. In societies becoming more unequal, taxpayers are less likely to support spending that enhances a society’s stock of public goods and services.

Israel vs Palestinians

Gaza: what life is like under the continuing Israeli blockade




Election

Democratic Socialists Had a Pretty Good Election Night

Pelosi Must Go

Friday

Tech

Everything is Amazing, But Nothing is Ours and Computer Files Are Going Extinct


The robots we should be worried about. The Drone Wars Are Already Here

"The skies of Syria, Yemen, and Libya swarm with armed and dangerous unmanned aerial vehicles. And the technology is spreading farther and farther afield."

Hey Google

There is no universe where an opinion piece by right wing hack, David Bossie is Headline News. (Google News 10.30.2019)

God-Dammit Google

There is no universe where an opinion piece by right wing hack, David Bossie is Headline News. (Google News 11.01.2019)

Fox - Keeping them in the Dark.

(Fox News 10.30.2019)

Fox - The Hypocrisy

Fox, the wrapped in red, white, and blue, conservative propaganda channel, protector of all things 'Murican, dedicated to making sure we all wear our flag pins while keeping old, white-people, "real 'Muricans" misinformed and enraged are giving Pelosi hell for draping impeachment in stars and stripes.

Fuck Fox.

CNN - Not Helping

How a Trump impeachment could lead to a Pelosi presidency



The Capitalist Paradise

I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb



US and Israel

Democratic pro-Israel group attacks Bernie Sanders - Hard to believe the pro-Israel crowd doesn't like an old Jewish guy. Can pro-Israel be anti-Semitic?



The World

How power in the middle east is changing - Revisiting the win-win-win-win outcome in Syria

How power in the world is changing - The New World is Emerging Before Us

Today’s world is that of financial capitalism, which is devastating economies one by one for the sole benefit of a few super-rich people. Its supreme stage implied the division of the world into two parts: on the one hand, stable and globalised countries, and on the other hand, regions of the world without states, reduced to being mere reserves of raw materials. 

Trump

The lies. Oh my God, the lies.

Margaret and Helen

And to the entire GOP – is this really the ship you want to go down with? This guy? The guy so insecure he flipped off the female astronauts who politely corrected his incorrect statement about females who have walked in space? That’s your guy? The guy with the bad combover and the cheap suits made in China? The guy who just brought our soldiers home from Syria by selling them to Saudi Arabia? The guy who last year said the Kurds were our friends and is now abandoning them because they didn’t help us in World War II? 

You don’t follow that guy. You impeach that guy.

Mid Week

Hey Google

An opinion piece by Newt does not qualify as Headline News. (2019.10.26 am). Really, no opinion piece should be headline news.

Medicare for All

USA today: Stop fearmongering about 'Medicare for All.' Most families would pay less for better care.

Framing this debate by fearmongering over “higher taxes” ignores that this money is already coming out of American families’ pockets. Right now, these costs actually amount to a regressive tax that every family pays no matter whether their wage-earner is a CEO or a secretary. We can discuss whether a Medicare for All program that uses our money to fund Medicare instead of financing private insurance companies is a good idea. But it is deeply misleading to pretend that this shift is an increase in family health care costs. It is not.

Trump

Six Things Your Idiot Uncle Walter Doesn't Understand About The Impeachment Of Donald Trump



The Future

About 41% of the global population are under 24. And they’re angry…

The Global Protest Wave, Explained



2020

Hillary Clinton Spoils the Party

I'll bet there are some Corporate Ds shitting their pants over this.  Qualifying For The December Debate Will Be Difficult For Many Democrats

This has to be good for progressives though. When two-thirds of the debaters are spouting progressive talk, Biden is going to look even more lame.

Demographics

Diaper rush: conquering a $9 billion market no one wants to talk about

The time may not be far off when more adults need diapers than babies as the population grows older, potentially a huge opportunity for manufacturers of incontinence products - if they can lift the stigma that has long constrained sales.

Wow.

This Week

Tech

Republican campaign put beacons on lawn signs to track phones, company says

Not only do beacons provide very precise location data, they're also inexpensive. Beacons can be purchased in bulk for less than $20 a piece, according to Beaconstac's website. The cost of the company's cloud-based marketing platform, which manages the devices, starts at around $80 a month. 

Someday a Beacon will cost a nickle and they will be everywhere. I can't wait....

Health Care

Make no mistake: Medicare for All would cut taxes for most Americans

For the middle-class, the burden is enormous. Take a secretary earning $50,000 a year, who has employer-sponsored health insurance at a total cost of $15,000. In reality her labor compensation is $65,000 (that’s what her employer pays in exchange of her work), but the secretary only gets $50,000. The executive earning $1,000,000 also pays the same $15,000 for his healthcare. This is a terrible funding mechanism.

Media - Propaganda

Fox - Creating The Conservative Reality

2020 

How Hillary Clinton Boosted Tulsi Gabbard - The Atlantic bashing HRC for her stupid Gabbard comments. Although, they seem to agree with her but just think she should have been a little less "out front" with it. Part of the Corporate D problem.

The DNC Versus Democracy



Trump

 MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD - I agree

Why isn't Trump serious about fixing NAFTA?

.. the new pharma perks make NAFTA 2.0 worse than the original. The pact requires signatory countries to provide extended monopoly rights that block the generic competition needed to reduce drug prices. This includes extensions of drug patent monopolies beyond 20 years, guaranteed additional exclusive marketing rights for biologic drugs, and more.

Equality


I’m a Political Theorist, and I Hate the “Equality”/”Equity” Chart


Ian Welsh: Yes, You CAN Tax the Rich



Economics

Stumbling and Mumbling: NARRATIVE ECONOMICS: A REVIEW



Mitt

This Sure Looks Like Mitt Romney’s Secret Twitter Account (Update: It Is)

No, Mitt didn't reveal it.  ASHLEY FEINBERG at SLATE figured it out. Corporate media just can't stand it when someone outside their bubble outperforms them.

Sunday

Self Help

5 TENETS OF A NEGATIVE SELF-HELP


American Crapitalism

American Crapitalism in a nutshell..

I PAY $21,000 A YEAR FOR LOUSY HEALTH INSURANCE

"Under the norms of mainstream political journalism, costs imposed on the American people by the private sector require no justification or defense; only costs imposed by the public sector do."

It not just "the norms of mainstream journalism", this is American Crapitalism in a nutshell. The Reagan revolution led to current crop of Rs and Corporate Ds who believe that business can do no wrong and government can do no right, therefore government by the people should bend to the will of business interests.

American Crapitalism - Hedge Funds

The Working Person's Guide to the Industry That Might Kill Your Company

"..The result is a race to the bottom. In the long run, the entire PE model is the highest expression of the philosophy that working people are merely widgets whose cost must be minimized in order to serve the needs of capital."

American Crapitalism - Step in the right direction

Not a lot but is needed. Senators propose near-total ban on worker noncompete agreements



Politics - Head in the Sand or Lying Bastards

THE THINGS WE DO FOR MONEY I’LL NEVER UNDERSTAND

The person who wrote this (referring to CNN vs Trump),

“Never in the history of this country has a President been the subject of such a sustained barrage of unfair, unfounded, unethical and unlawful attacks by so-called ‘mainstream’ news, as the current situation,”

.. was either on another planet during the Obama administration or works for Fox News

Politics - Corporate Ds vs Progressives.

Hard to argue with this. (from CNN)

Judging from the various posts I've seen on this, I think the D's who love HRC, the most tin-eared politician of my lifetime, may be a stronger, dear-leader cult than the Fox News-Teabagger-Trumpers.

More good stuff on this from Caitlin Johnstone: This MSNBC Clip Is Everything Ugly About Russia Smears

I agree, there's no doubt HRC was referring to Gabbard but I don't think there was any real reason for her comment other than it's just something HRC believes because the people in her circle believe it.  

Just like the Trumpers believe Obama was from Kenya, the Obama Phone existed, Trump was sent by god, and the HRC email fuck-up was part of some larger, more evil plan, HRC sees Russians everywhere because people in her circle see Russians everywhere. 

She can't conceive of a world view different from her own so speaks as if everyone is in her world. Tin-eared.

Trump - About that Swamp?


We Found a “Staggering” 281 Lobbyists Who’ve Worked in the Trump Administration - This article feels a lot like the BS stock trading article of a few days ago but still,... its obvious the Trump Swamp is swampier and more criminal than we seen for decades.



Trump - So Much Winning

The US airstrike on its former headquarters is a terrible symbol of American failure in Syria

Even when he tries to do the right thing like getting the US out of foreign wars, he screws it up. 

He just doesn't realize that there are problems/issues that can't be solved with small, lip-service like action and then a bunch of BS, carnival-barker propaganda from his mouth. 

He just doesn't have the ability to do the job. He would have been a buy-here-pay-here car salesman if he hadn't been born rich.

Trump

Aaron Burr vs Alexander Hamilton 

Saturday

American Crapitalism

Inside TurboTax’s 20-Year Fight to Stop Americans From Filing Their Taxes for Free - Mining American taxpayers for profit.



Media - Protecting the Wealth

Flacks and Figures



Politics

5 Signs You’re In The Midst Of A Moral Panic - It sounds to me like the Conservatives spent the entire Obama term in a moral panic.  Note the author, Ashe Schow, is a right-wing hack with time at Heritage Foundation and The Federalist.



Health Care

Michael Hicks: Indiana has a hospital monopoly problem

"It turns out the not-for-profit hospital industry and their network of clinics is the single most profitable industry in Indiana. These profits are so large that when accumulated, they account for roughly 9 percent of the state’s total economy. As of 2017, this industry had accrued more than $27 billion, yes billion. Yet, the not-for-profit industry in Indiana pays virtually no taxes and invests almost none of those profits locally. That money is invested in Wall Street, not Main Street. However, they do charge Hoosiers a premium to access healthcare."

and 

  "In the process of vetting this study with several colleagues, I shared it with one lifetime Republican and veteran of two GOP administrations. His response was simply that this is the single best argument for Warren/Sanders healthcare reform he had ever seen."

Lock-em up

A Million People Are Jailed at China's Gulags. I Escaped. Here's What Goes on Inside

Wow, I wonder how many the US has locked up?

Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2019  

The American criminal justice system holds almost 2.3 million people in 1,719 state prisons, 109 federal prisons, 1,772 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,163 local jails, and 80 Indian

Oops.....

Trump

The U.S. needs a cost-benefit analysis to decide whether the Middle East is still a priority - The only cost benefit analysis that matters will be if Israel backers and oil men continue to fill the campaign coffers.


"Trump's Retreat" ? - This won't go over well in Teabagistan. Can't be talking about Dear Leader and retreats. from Haaretz 10/17/2019

I remember when the Dumb, Orange One was going to save coal. Trump's push to save coal is failing. Coal demand to plunge to 42-year low

Sunday Morning

Media - Hey Google

An opinion piece by the propaganda network RealClearPolitics does not qualify as Headline News.

Media - Fox: Ignoring the News to Feed the Rage. 

Fox is on it today. Lots in the news, Trump's mess, Giuliani's mess, Turkey bombing the shit out of Syria, Typhoon in Japan, crane collapse in NO. So what does Fox put on its Sunday Morning front page? Crooked Hillary, Evil Deep State, Uncontrollable Brown People in scary robes, White woman found dead, oh,.. an a cop shoots someone (Who I believe was black but Fox wouldn't tell you that).

Media

The Trolls Are Everywhere. Now What Are We Supposed to Do? - I've been saying for a while that democracy can't survive in a world of corporate media and the Internet. I think we're about to find out.

Also this...  Fake News in Trump’s America

The Current State of American Politics - Yep.....

The current state of American politics is that a reactionary propaganda network for bored, angry old people has played a crucial role in electing a president who is a bored, angry old person who continuously watches said reactionary propaganda network.

History

Worth Reading: Five Lessons from History found at The Big Picture



Science

Targeted Memory Reactivation During Sleep Improves Next-Day Problem Solving

I've always believed sleeping-on-it helps. My basic plan for figuring anything out is, 1. Several days of research. 2. Think on it hard and often over those several days. 3. Wake up one morning with the answer.

Economics

Cutting taxes doesn't trickle down but does increase national debt, and inequality.

There's an Automation Crisis Underway Right Now, It's Just Mostly Invisible



Trump and the Bible Bangers

This might explain Trump and Barr's recent comments on religion. from Haaretz.

Trump and Israel

Israel, well Haaretz at least is not happy with Mr. Trump.

Friday

Hey Google!

Just because Fox News will put a propaganda piece from David Bosse on their headlines page does not mean it deserves headline treatment from Google News.

Bossie is a Trump propagandist and not real news. From Wikipedia.

David Norman Bossie (born November 1, 1965)[1][2] is an American political activist. Since 2000, he has been president and chairman of conservative advocacy group Citizens United and in 2016, Bossie was the deputy campaign manager to the Donald Trump presidential campaign.[3] 

In May 2019, Bossie was accused by the Internal Revenue Service of defrauding political donors by funneling their donations to himself through consultants and book sales. President Trump has distanced himself from Bossie and demanded a thorough investigation.[4]

War

Two missiles set an Iranian tanker on fire near the Saudi coast

The incident may have two possible sources:

The two missiles were fired from the Saudi coast or a Saudi missile boat.... 

A third party which maintains a missile boat presence in the Red Sea.

Who could those "third parties" be? 

Music







Tech

Seven Ways Telecommuting Has Changed Real Estate



Humor

Found here: Political Irony

Crapitalism

Always Good: Stumbling and Mumbling

Another from Stumbling and Mumbling: FINANCIALIZATION AS SYMPTOM



Interesting

Monday

Interesting

Going Viral? 


Social Security

These 7 Social Security myths just aren’t true, no matter how often you hear them


Health Care

We’re Getting Ripped Off


American Corrupitalism

Hunter Biden’s Corruption


Israeli Elections

Why Israel is struggling to find a way out of Its Political Deadlock - A lot in here reminds me of our situation over here in the US.

..In political terms, there is nothing divided about Israel. In this month’s general election, 90 per cent of Israeli Jews voted for parties that identify as being either on the militaristic, anti-Arab right or on the religious, anti-Arab far-right.

.. All three support the entrenchment of the occupation and annexation of parts of the West Bank; all three think the settlements are justified and necessary; all demand that the siege of Gaza continue; all view the Palestinian leadership as untrustworthy; and all want neighbouring Arab states cowering in fear.

.. There is one significant but hardly insumountable difference. Gantz thinks it is important to maintain bipartisan US support for Israel’s belligerent occupation while Netanyahu has preferred to throw Israel’s hand in with Donald Trump and the Christian religious right.

.. But the problem is that Likud’s members are in absolute thrall to their leader. The thought of losing him terrifies them. Likud now looks more like a one-man cult than a political party.

Media- Covering Popular Uprisings

US media only report on protests against governments we don't support. There have been violent protests in Iraq for the last few days but US media has ignored them like they ignored the French Yellow Vest Movement and the recent protests against al-Sisi in Egypt.

Iraq protests: Death toll rises to 20 as unrest spreads in south

The protesters are mostly "angry young people who are not aligned to any political or religious party", Khan said. "They are simply very frustrated at the fact that they don't have jobs," he said.

Trump

Short and on-point: In The Year Of the Whistle-Blower. Or How The Game Is Played.



Media - Health Care Propaganda

Betsy McCaughey - Is a conservative hack who must think her readers are stupid as hell.

I one paragraph she says we currently spend 3.5 trillion on health care

Truth: $23 billion is a minuscule 0.65% of the $3.5 trillion Americans spend on health care. Zeroing out all insurance company profits wouldn’t make a dent in the nation’s medical costs.

In the very next paragraph she says medicare for all would be between 3 and 4 trillion per year (actually 3.2 trillion is the estimated cost) and we just can't afford that.

So where will the money come from? Warren backs Bernie Sanders’ Medicare for All plan, which Sanders estimates will cost $3 trillion to $4 trillion a year, about as much as the entire US budget. To raise that much money, all taxpayers, not just the rich, would have to hand over a gut-wrenching share of their income to Uncle Sam. 

So in Betsy's bizarro world, we can afford the health care mess we have now but we can't afford to cover everyone, end medical bankruptcies, and free workers from employee based health care for basically the same cost.

She should be banished from the US media machine.

Sunday Morning

Music





2020

A billionaire heiress, connected to Wall St, the DNC, CAP, and Cory Booker speaks out against Bernie and for Warren. Last week we heard the billionaires hated Warren. We know they hate Bernie. They do love Cory Booker though. With Biden fading fast and Warren jumping over Bernie, I'm guessing this is the first shot fired in the VP race, i.e. we might back Warren if she puts Booker on the ticket.

Politics

Lindsey Graham needs to go



Impeachment

From The American Conservative: A Flagrant Abuse of Power

When Trump says, “I would like you to do us a favor though,” he is linking the favor to continued U.S. military assistance to Ukraine. I don’t agree with the policy of providing that assistance on the merits, but withholding it and then using it as a bargaining chip in an attempt to get a foreign government to engage in dirty tricks against a political rival is outrageous. It raises obvious questions about other foreign policy decisions that the president has made and whether he has engaged in similar behavior in dealings with other governments. 

Impeachment is the constitutional remedy for such abuses of power. These are exactly the kinds of self-serving abuses that impeachment was designed to check. Abuse of power need not be a crime to be deserving of impeachment, and there is already enough evidence of abuse to warrant finding out just how far the rot goes. Under the circumstances, an impeachment inquiry is entirely appropriate, and that inquiry may bring evidence of more abuses to light. The House should take its time and discover the full extent of the corruption in this administration, and then it should do its constitutional duty.

Still a bad idea for the Ds politically.


Though this sure sounds like an abuse of power - Washington Post: State Department steps up email probe of dozens of former Hillary Clinton aides


Lefsetz: Trump Resigns - If I had to bet on how it will play out, I'd have my money on something like this. It's the only way to keep the Rs from going down with the Dumb Orange One and would be a great way to fire up the R base for 2020.




Media - The Impeachment

Trump, the TV president, finally meets a media story he can’t control - It's not Trump who's lost control, it's the conservative propaganda network. Trump is a piece of it of course but without Fox, Sinclair, Facebook robots, and talk radio, Trump would have lost control ages ago. Still, it's only been a couple of days. They are dancing as fast as they can and may regain their footing.


Will Rs or R voters turn on Trump?  SteveM thinks no. NO ENEMIES ON THE RIGHT, ESPECIALLY NOW - I think it depends on Fox and R propaganda machine.




Head in the Sand 

I always wonder how the Reagan-loving Rs and Libertarians can look at this chart and blame our health care cost crisis on liberal policies, Obamacare, etc. Found here Mish

American Crapitalism

Felix Salmon: The cost of unstable norms - A good short read that is right on.

Capitalism works best when everybody is playing by the same rules. Right now we seem to be moving away from that ideal.

Americans spent decades discussing rule of law. Why would anyone believe us now?

"And now, after nearly 30 years of Western and U.S. talk about justice and courts and democracy, after all of that time and money invested in judicial training and rule-of-law seminars, now it turns out that the critics, the cynics, the would-be authoritarians and the corrupt politicians who seek to use the organs of justice to their own advantage — now it turns out that they are right. The United States is not an example to be admired; it is a rule-of-law catastrophe. Its elected president has spent months trying to persuade his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, to return to Soviet-style ways of doing things, to bring back politicized justice and to put pressure on Ukrainian prosecutors to fabricate evidence and pursue a fake “case,” in an effort to help his own reelection campaign."

Of course we also talk democracy and free elections while supporting dictators along with peace and diplomacy while bombing the shit out of people. So really,  we need to work a helluva harder on practicing what we preach.

examples ....

War - Why They Hate Us, part 73  - US-made bomb used in deadly Saudi-led air raid in Yemen


Media - Whistleblowers - MSM Defends CIA’s “Whistleblower”, Ignores Actual Whistleblowers

Wednesday

Impeachment

Man I hate to see impeachment. It's not that I don't think he deserves it, Trumps an asshole and deserves to go but damn, one of the reasons he was elected was the people were fed up with a government that basically ignored them. They hadn't seen a government that cared about people for decades. Trump told them he'd be different, an outsider who cared for the common man. He was lying his ass off but the people believed him and voted for him.

Now the D's have a chance to show they can work for the working class but they take off on an impeachment that will suck the life out of the news cycle leaving even less room for policy discussions.

I'd like to see the D's try to just appeal on policy and say, Fuck It, we know Trumps a criminal and we want him out of there but we don't want to waste time with impeachment. we want to do it with votes. Promise real change, medicare for all, support of social security, education, unions, give the millions working at Walmarts and fast food a raise, build some roads, some broadband. Bring the country into the god-damned 21st century. Flood the fucking news cycle with policy aimed at the people and make the Rs run against it.

What a fucking mess this will be.


The Death of the Neutral Public Sphere

.. we need to force candidates to engage with each other to solve actual policy problems, to lock them into a conversation where evidence becomes necessary, to hold them to account on their promises over time.

From Naked Capitalism 9/25/2019

Resilc: “We’re down from Vermont for a few days for medical issues. I sat in the UNC orthopedic center yesterday with a cast of dozens of all ages, races and economic levels. I am betting most could care less about Trump and impeachment, but a whole lot about their medical insurance or lack of….”

Trump and Fox

TRUMP AS “REPLACEMENT-LEVEL FOX NEWS JUNKIE” - This is right on Trump. Still, Fox is the driving force. Like millions of old white people, he believes what Fox has been spoon feeding their viewers. Trump is more the "Fox News President" than Fox News is "Trump Media"


Bill Gates: “Economists don’t actually understand macroeconomics” - Yeah. Bill Gates knows about the economy. Fuck Bill Gates.



Propaganda

Team Iran

Lines like this ..

"The purpose of the JCPOA was to bribe the Iranians to hold off on building a bomb until Obama left office by legitimizing a future Iranian bomb while filling the regime’s coffers with hundreds of billions of dollars." 

.. are almost always followed by generous amounts of BS, along the lines of  "I'm not a racist but,..."



War

US air strike against Daesh in Libya kills 11 - Something you won't see on US media.

Sunday

Tech

Your Navigation App Is Making Traffic Unmanageable - The apps may have created some new problems and been detrimental to some people or areas but its hard to see how the gains they've given travelers and commuters isn't worth the few problems. A little like the globalization issue, we can't see the forest for the trees.


Drugs

Absinthe

Crime and Punishment

Sacklers threaten to scrap opioid deal if they aren’t shielded from lawsuits - Just take about 90% of their cash and put a couple of them in jail. I think it would lead to much better behavior from Corporate America.



Israeli Election

The ugly joy of the Israeli election

'There is only one way out of the ugly place you have painted yourself into, democracy." 

But I get the feeling that ain't gonna happen.

US Politics

Why Republicans Play Dirty:  They fear that if they stick to the rules, they will lose everything. Their behavior is a threat to democratic stability.

Decent article. A couple of things of note:

1.  It didn't start with Trump. He is a result.
2.  Nothing in this article about the conservative media cult driving it.

War - Middle East

Beneath Contempt - A good short, bashing the Saudi war mongering.

I can never really grasp who is leading who in the US-Saudi-Israeli war vs Iran?

Is it the Saudis vs Iran with the US and Israel being dragged in due to oil and common enemy? That's the way link above makes it sound. It could be driven by Israel with the Saudis in the mix because of the Shia-Sunni thing and the US involved because, well, we back anything Israel does. Some would claim it's the US leading the charge with the Saudis and Israelis basically playing the part of US allies (and bases) in the area.

I don't know, my current best guess is the Saudis and Israel (mainly Netanyahu) have an uneasy, strong-men-with-a-common-enemy agreement to fight Iran in any way possible. The basic goals being, Israel gets all Palestinian land and gets to sell natural gas to Europe while the Saudis get to be the world's leader of Islam and oil. I believe Israel is the primary driver in this alliance with a more agitated leadership and much better military and espionage setup. Also, Israel is more belligerent to its neighbors while the Saudis, except for Yemen, are more belligerent to their own people.

The US is there because Israel is a traditional ally and still has a lot of support from US voters, especially the Christian right and Congress.  The Saudis have support from US corporations with an eye on their oil or at least keeping Iran oil off the market to keep prices up.  Also, the US business class likes war on any any state that doesn't take the US capitalist model, Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, North Korea, Iran, etc. To call your government something other than "American Style Capitalism" is to invite attack. 

So in a way it is an alliance of the three with some common goals. Still, I think it's shaky at best.

The Saudis and Israelis are natural religious and territorial enemies. If the Iran issue is ever resolved, there will be a Saudi vs Israel issue.

The American people seem to be growing weary of both the Saudi violence and the Israeli oppression of the Palestinians. I can see a day when we decide we've had enough of wars in the middle east and just get the hell out. It is a few years out though.

For now,  as an American, I'm damned embarrassed to see my country in an alliance with the two most thuggish states on the planet.

We can do better.




Healthcare

Why we shouldn't have employer paid healthcare, they can turn it off if you don't get in line.

”GM is cutting off striking workers’ health care coverage effective today. The UAW will now pick up the bill for their members’ continued healthcare through COBRA" 

Work and Healthcare

David Graeber: “The paradox of modern work: 1. Most people’s sense of dignity and self-worth is caught up in working for living; 2. Most people hate their jobs.”  (found here)

TNB:  "The paradox of US healthcare: 1. Most people like their doctor. 2. Most people hate their health insurance."




Why They Hate Us.

Just a couple days after the Saudi Oil field explosions and not a word about it on US media.

Media - Keeping the Cult in Line

Not a huge news day, Trump-Biden-Ukraine dominate US news but there are also Protests in Egypt and Hong Kong, the Israeli election, Iran but Fox is keeping the cult in line with this

The D's are a mess, AOC is dumb, Newt G scares'em (by the way.. fuck Newt), Military good, and candy for your brain.

Media - Keeping the Cult in Line #2

Fox has regular headlines about shootings and violence in Chicago but last night six people were shot in downtown indianapolis and there's not a word about it on Fox. I guess violence in the middle of Mike Pence's home state isn't as important as violence in that scummy town of that Obama dude.

Police search for a suspect after 6 people are shot in downtown Indianapolis



Media - Keeping the Cult in Line #3

Fox has very little about the Israeli election. You'd think the cult members would want to know how one of their favorites, Mr. Netanyahu, is doing.

Wednesday

War

Gin and Tacos on the March to war with Iran:  Gin and Tacos - In Plain Sight

Ian Welsh on the same: How Important Is The Drone Attack On The Saudi Oil Field?

"If Trump acts like an idiot and attacks Iran, of course, this will turn out to be a big deal, but otherwise it isn’t in and of itself.

Nor should anyone be crying for the Saudis. Assume it is true the attack was launched by Yemeni Houthis with some Iranian support, remember that Saudi Arabia has been bombing and deliberately starving Yemen for years. They’re at war, and if the Houthis have a bit of support from Iran, what of it? Saudi Arabia itself has supported many organizations which have attacked other nations, possibly including Al-Qaeda and 9/11.

If you bomb the shit out of a country and they manage to get in one hit against you, boo-hoo.

Nor should America care, since Saudi Arabia is a terrible ally who has done more harm to American interests than any other “ally” in the world, with only the possible exception of Israel."

The Fox News website has been very quiet about the Saudi drone attack since the first day. I don't watch Fox so they may be hammering it for their old white viewers but the website is pretty quiet. Seems odd?

US supports Saudi 'right to defend itself': Pompeo - Dragging out the language Israel has used to bomb the shit out of the Palestinians for years.



Media

I wrote this on Wednesday

I'm pretty sure our media folk will spend the next few days talking about the elite, ultimate-insider, "legendary", media person who just passed away instead of the dumb orange one, the coming war with Iran, or the plight of the common folk out here in Teabaggistan.

but I haven't really heard too much about her. Still, she is the poster child of our current media mess.


Media - The Propaganda Site

A lot in the news today, Israeli elections, Looming war with Iran, Trump's insider case so Fox headlines, Kavanaugh, Chicago gang-Bangers, CNN Bad, Hollywood Bad. The cult has no clue.

Fascism Today

Read this about Netanyahu,  THE ISRAELI ELECTIONS, TAKE TWO, and think about how US evangelicals adore him and how a republican congress supported him over a US president.

Also, Netanyahu is not the least oppressive choice available. Palestinian-Israeli Joint List Gains Seats, as Netanyahu’s Demonization Backfires

The crumbled throne - On the results and what may follow.

On that "Only Democracy in the Middle East"

Housing

The rise of Nairobi’s concrete tenement jungle - These aren't all that different from what my kid is living in in Carmel, Indiana, at about $1,500 a month. They do have a dryer instead of a line.


American Crapitalism

Martin Wolf: why rigged capitalism is damaging liberal democracy

Economies are not delivering for most citizens because of weak competition, feeble productivity growth and tax loopholes

Stumbling and Mumbling: THE TROUBLE WITH CAPITALISM