Tuesday Night Buzz

Taxes

For those who want to return to the good old days. The graphic below shows what taxes were like in 1950 compared to 2015. (found at The Big Picture.) Also, a good article on  Lies about Taxes.

Basically, since the 1980s we've, well... US leadership....has been cutting individual and corporate income tax rates, which mostly affect the rich folk while increasing other taxes like social security, gasoline, sales, cigarette, etc that mostly affect the working class. Over the same time they've forced people to pickup more of the cost of government niceties like public schools, state colleges, government supplied services like water, sewage, and trash pickup, retirement saving, retirement medical care, etc. And,... they convinced a good portion of the people that it's the really poor folk's fault that we can't have these nice things anymore.Fuck 'em. It's time to raise taxes on the rich.

Ds vs Progressives

Naked Capitalism with the best comment I've seen on Pelosi's "like 5 people" comment.

Pelosi: Progressive Dem wing represented by Ocasio-Cortez is ‘like five people’ The Hill (resilc). Versailles circa 1788…..

Israel vs Palestine

The Israeli-Palestinian peace process is dead. An expert explains why.

“If your solution does not include self-determination for everyone, and basic civil, human, and political rights for everyone — it’s not a real process.”

Fascism

Creeping Fascism - A Land Uncharted: the Persecution of Julian Assange

Indeed fascist leaders around the world, along with the military/surveillance establishment and their neoliberal enablers, are celebrating the silencing of Assange. After all, Wikileaks has represented a major thorn in their sides for a decade. From Netanyahu to Duterte to Bolsonaro to Modi and even Putin, all will be emboldened to expand their own attacks on press freedom. All of them will feel empowered to be even more unrestrained in their brutality.

U.S. Member of Jewish-Arab NGO Questioned, Separated From Luggage at Israel's Airport

Laura Mandel says Ben-Gurion Airport security inspectors asked her 'why an American Jew would be interested in relations between Jews and Arabs'

Four Steps Facebook Should Take to Counter Police Sock Puppets



Rogue Nations

TRUMP: ISRAELIS SHOULD BE IMMUNE FROM INT'L CRIMINAL COURT PROSECUTION

“Since the creation of the ICC, the United States has consistently declined to join the court because of its broad, unaccountable prosecutorial powers; the threat it poses to American national sovereignty; and other deficiencies that render it illegitimate,” the White House said in a statement it attributed to Trump. “Any attempt to target American, Israeli, or allied personnel for prosecution will be met with a swift and vigorous response.”

Tribes

Bernie on Fox - Lots of talk about Bernie going on Fox. Fox reported it pretty well and a lot of progressive types think Bernie got his point across to the Fox Cult.  I'm not so sure.  At this time of the election cycle this interview helps split the Ds so really helps the Rs. You can bet the coverage would be different if it was Bernie against Trump. And Yeah, he did get his message across but I don't really think the Fox viewers got it, read the comments on the link above. The cult is trained to react against this stuff. It's like Fox did a straight-up piece on the bad guy in professional wrestling.



The US

Umair Haque on (How) American Collapse Resembles Soviet Collapse. Read the whole thing it's pretty good.

"The Republicans and Democrats don’t differ very much, do they? The Dems don’t offer any of the following, for example — retirement, healthcare, affordable education, childcare, safety nets, and so on. Instead, both parties seem to believe in more or less the same things — markets as the solution to every problem a society has, populated by greedy, self-interested, profit-maximizing “consumers” on the one side, and corporate “people” on the other. Witness Obamacare — and its legacy of ruin (life expectancy’s falling, my friends.) So the Democrats don’t oppose. Americans are offered a set of false choices — between implosion, the Republican way, or collapse, the Democrat way. Neither of these, though, amounts to progress. The result is the functional equivalent of one-party rule." 

 ".. The answer to everything is markets, profits, advantage — and self-interested “consumers” and corporate “people.” But these answers have failed catastrophically — just the same way that Soviet communism did. They have left people astoundingly worse off, especially compared to their peers in any other rich country. They have created a broken nation of powerless, impoverished people."

Dumb

Dumbest thing you'll read today....Hard to believe he was being serious here.

Opinion: Crony capitalism? Big business is actually losing influence over government

The man is an idiot:  Trump Asks China to Shift Soybean Tariffs to Something Else

Weekend

Economics

Job Growth with Trump. Meet the new boss..... same as the old boss

Income inequality - One for all those old Fox watchers who want to go back to the good old days,... whenever that was. Income growth was pretty equal across all levels of income from WWII to 1980. After 1980, the growth is going to the richest. from The Big Picture

Ian Welsh with a good post on student loans. Eat the Young: Student Loan Version.


Fascists Today

ISRAEL STOPS BDS-FOUNDER OMAR BARGHOUTI FROM BOARDING FLIGHT TO U.S.

Barghouti was stopped at Ben Gurion Airport on Wednesday and prevented from boarding a plane to the US even though he had valid travel documents

I like the link itself is "https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/BDS-founder-Omar-Barghouti-denied-entry-to-the-US-586558". 

So I guess Israel is in control of who can enter the US?

THE U.S. GOVERNMENT’S INDICTMENT OF JULIAN ASSANGE POSES GRAVE THREATS TO PRESS FREEDOMS



Snark

World Class snark from Jeffrey St. Clair's Roaming Charges: Tongue-Tied and Twisted always fun. A few examples but click the link... read them all.

+ The main difference between the anonymous leaks from US intelligence officials about RussiaGate peddled nightly on MSDNC, CNN, the NYT and the Washing Post and Julian Assange’s exposure of US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan is that what Wikileaks published turned out to be true. In this system, you’re only held accountable for exposing the truth about imperial power.

+ Trump: “I know nothing about Wikileaks. Not my thing.”

In a two month period during the 2016 campaign, Trump mentioned Wikileaks or Julian Assange at least 160 times.

+ But good for Gabbard…

Tulsi Gabbard

✔@TulsiGabbard

The arrest of #JulianAssange is meant to send a message to all Americans and journalists: be quiet, behave, toe the line. Or you will pay the price.

36.6K

5:04 PM - Apr 11, 2019

Twitter Ads info and privacy

21.9K people are talking about this

+ The Taliban control more territory now than any time since the 2001 US invasion. Call it a mighty victory and get the hell out of there.

Thursday

Corruption

Putting the CON in FOXCONN - Last summer, Foxconn announced a barrage of new projects in Wisconsin — so we went looking for them


US and Israel

Yes, you read that right. The business of Florida State will be conducted in a foreign country whose interests may not be entirely aligned with Florida's.

Maybe we should make Israel the 51st state,  or maybe the US could just become part of Israel?


Smell the Freedom

The fascists and authoritarians have had a good couple of days. Netanyahu Win in Israel, the arrest of Assange, the new regime in Brazil is killing people


Media

Propaganda, idiots, and telling them what they want to hear. from Gin and Tacos - TRUST US, WE'RE WARM BODIES


Capitalists

Tricking consumers for the buck. Dark Patterns: How Weaponized Usability Hurts Users

Wednesday

Politics

Digby on The Cult and their news. Trump is very popular.  Of course the other other cult blamed Trump on Russia


Government and Business

TNB - "Maximum corruption occurs at the intersection of Government and Business"

"Government of business by business and for business" 

In the bill, the interest rate is actually calculated as monthly fees of $9 per $100 on the original principal. In that scenario, a consumer who borrows $1,500 for 9 months and makes the payments on time would owe a total of $2,715, with $1,215 in fees. 

In the revised bill, people could take out a new loan 15 days after paying off a previous loan, instead of every week. 

The committee lowered the cap for another type of small-dollar loan from $4,000 to $3,000 and decreased the proposed interest rate from 99 percent to 72 percent.

and ..

The payday loan industry has pushed for legislation similar to Senate Bill 613 for the past three years, only to be rebuffed amid concerns from the consumer advocacy organizations and others that see such high-interest rates as predatory. 

This year, the loan industry has hired several top lobbyists at the Statehouse, including former Republican lawmakers Matt Bell and Matt Whetstone

US Edition of "Government of business by business and for business"

A bill supported by Democrats and Republicans would make permanent a program that bars the IRS from ever developing its own online tax filing service.

Those efforts have been fueled by hefty lobbying spending and campaign contributions by the industry. Intuit and H&R Block last year poured a combined $6.6 million into lobbying related to the IRS filing deal and other issues.

US Edition #2 of  "Government of business by business and for business"

The House Oversight Committee is attempting to study how drug companies set prescription drug prices, but Republicans have warned the industry that it may be better for them not to cooperate

Economics

Ian Welsh: Don’t Confuse Capitalism With Industrialization

Marxism - Found at the always good Stumbling and Mumbling 

• Marxism for Tories
• Marxism and Freedom
• Marxism vs Social Democracy
• Libertarian Marxist?

Robots are coming - Walmart Announces A New Addition To Its Workforce: Thousands Of Robots

Robots are coming #2 - Robot Farmers - Farming, at least working the fields, planting etc. seems a great place for driver-less vehicles

Tuesday

Tech

Robot shoots three pointers. - Making the shot is pretty cool but damn, should it take that long to get the ball in the shooters hands. I mean, we're sending cars down the highway at 60 MPH without a driver but it takes two minutes to get the ball from the sidelines to the shooter?




Politics

About that demobilization - If you think the D's are motivated now,.... just wait until they get to vote for Joe Biden !

Trump and Netanyahu, joined at the hip.

• On the Eve of Israel’s Election, Netanyahu Thanks Trump for Sanctioning Iran at His Request
• The Trump Pollster Helping Netanyahu Win: ‘Right Now We Are Losing the Race’

About those Benjamins?  Trump brags he blew off calls from world leaders to give Adelsons the greatest gift: Jerusalem

"Donald Trump yesterday bragged that he had blown off calls from world leaders before announcing that he was moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem in December 2017. Moving the embassy, he said, pleased his largest donors, Sheldon and Miriam Adelson: “the most important thing I think that’s ever happened in their life.”

and

"Since then Trump and the Republican Party have gotten over 100 million dollars from Sheldon and Miriam Adelson and Trump fulfilled the prediction."

Related....Why Is Trump Helping Egypt’s Dictator Entrench His Power?

Medicare for All

Medicare for All Critics Are Telling Lies

".. But the truth is that people who love their employer-based insurance do not get to hold onto it in our current system. Instead, they lose that insurance constantly, all the time, over and over again.

American Corrupitalism

ADVENTURES IN THE AMERICAN MERITOCRACY


Destroying the FED?

Trump to Nominate Herman Cain for the Fed, Stephen Moore Likely for 2nd Seat - Is he just trolling the economics world or is Trump really just the stupidest man alive.


Speaking about Dual-Loyalty

Donald Trump, Not Ilhan Omar, Accused American Jews of Dual Loyalty


Bible Bangers

Trump and the Global Rise of the Christian Right


'murica

Ian Welsh on America: A Failing State - a good rant. read it all.

"The US is led by Donald Trump, a reality TV star, who was made to look like an effective billionaire mogul by clever editing. While Trump is not without his competencies (he did spend his life shitting into a gold toilet and screwing models), he’s clearly a few screws lose and a flaming narcissist.

Meanwhile the opposition party, faced with an extremely unpopular president, mutters about coming together and how they would never impeach a weak President.

The US is a gold flecked garbage heap slowly rolling towards the ocean. On fire.

There is a lot of ruin in a nation, but for almost 40 years now America’s elites have treated the US as something to loot, and assumed that the good times would keep rolling. They were uninterested in actually governing. They were happy to move much of America’s core manufacturing overseas, to the most likely nation to replace America as a hegemon, because the Chinese were smart enough to make American elites rich."

NCAA

Pay the Players! -In the name of ‘amateurism,’ college athletes make money for everyone except themselves 


Israel

Ahead Of Israeli Election, Netanyahu Pledges To Annex West Bank Settlements - We went to war when Iraq unilaterally annexed Kuwait and we've been bitching constantly about Russia annexing Crimea. I can't wait to hear the uproar about this.

From the Last Few Days

Middle East

Goings-on in Gaza - Israeli Snipers Kill 4, wound 207 as 40,000 Palestinians March Peacefully in Gaza for Right to Return

The Gaza Strip is inhabited by 1.8 million Palestinians, 70% of them from families that were kicked out of their homes in what is now Israel by militant Zionists in 1948, who then locked them up in the small territory. Israel conquered Gaza in 1967 and until 2005 intended to colonize it, sending in thousands of Israelis to hog the best land and water. The bellicose prime minister Ariel Sharon decided in 2005 that the Israeli squatters could not be protected effectively and pulled them out.

The George W. Bush administration presided over elections in January, 2006, for the Palestine Authority created by the Oslo Peace Accords. Hamas won those elections, a result that was unacceptable to Israel and ultimately to Bush (even though he had insisted on letting Hamas run). Bush and the Israelis staged an anti-Hamas coup in the Palestinian West Bank, but were unable to overturn the election results in the Gaza Strip itself. Thwarted in its attempt to impose a puppet strong man in Gaza, Israel replied to the Hamas victory by imposing a severe blockade on the civilians of Gaza in 2007, which still stands.

Gaza thus became, and remains, a huge concentration camp encircled on land, water and in the air by the Israeli military. Gaza fishermen are routinely fired upon by Israeli sailors, limiting their ability to fish (fish provide a significant proportion of protein available in Gaza).

Politics

Cory Booker and AIPAC - A good reason why SDs and other progressives shouldn't support for Booker.

THE IDEA OF JOE BIDEN BEING THE 2020 DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE IS ABSURD - I couldn't agree more. The post is not as good as the headline.

Bring Back Eisenhower Socialism

DECADENT TORIES


Smart Asses

Naked Capitalism 2019.03.28

Fascists

Somehow I feel that if Hitler and Mussolini were to magically emerge as national leaders today, Netanyahu and Trump would be among the first to support them.

Wednesday

Cool Stuff





Politics

Only corporate-fed D's allowed. The D establishment is working its ass off to shut-out its progressive side.   Fuck'em ! Time to split from the D's and form a real left-wing SD party.

Vote SD ! Medicare for All !

Tax and Spend vs Borrow and Spend - Andrew Tobias: Of Deficits And That Mechanical Swan

Democrats have long been ridiculed as the “tax and spend” party.  But there’s a lot government needs to do and Democrats think it makes sense not only to do it — but to pay for it.

Republicans are the “borrow and spend” party.  They spend, too — they just don’t pay for it.  Some might call that fiscally irresponsible.  Or even immoral.

• Reagan/Bush41 inherited a National Debt under $1 trillion — and quadrupled it.
• Clinton raised taxes on the best-off and by the end of his second term was able to hand Bush 43 a balanced budget with the prospect of “surpluses as far as the eye could see.”
• Bush 43 slashed taxes on the best-off even further than Reagan had and handed Obama the largest deficit in history.
• Obama raised taxes on the best-off and, by the end of his second term, was able to hand Trump and the Republicans a National Debt once again shrinking relative to the economy as a whole.
• Trump and the Republicans have exploded the deficit once again.

Corruption

1 big thing: Corruption anxiety

Stephen Moore and The Fed

Education

 ".. the result is that students from the 1% are 77 times more likely to attend an Ivy League school than students coming from families earning less than $30,000 a year."

and Ivy league attendees are over-represented in our leadership.  

Talkers

The Intellectual Dark Web...... from the comments here:  MC 800-FT IDW

The Intellectual Dark Web (lord I hate that name) seems to contain a whole bunch of white men who are new to politics. Or if not new to politics, at least always behind. It is full of white men with superficial political opinions, who haven't immersed themselves in political theory and history, haven't thought about stuff all that deeply. Which is fine, you don't need to have done that. Harris, Peterson, etc. - these guys aren't in politics.

But then they end up frustrating people because they want to "have conversations" and talk about stuff without putting in the work to know the history. And yet they still want all the respect and adulation of "having the conversation". Like, for fuck's same - people have been having these conversations for decades, centuries. People have their informed views. Just because *you* now have an opinion doesn't make you special, IDW-er.

Rather than just sit back and say "actually, maybe I don't know what's going on here, I want to listen and learn", it's an entire subculture of people who get defensive and say "why can't I opine without being criticized!!"

The white maleness of it all is just so...out there.

Though I disagree with the "white maleness" portion, I think this is right on. The sort-of superficial understanding of politics, history, and society was amplified first by Fox and Talk-radio. The internet has allowed it to unite and flourish.


Why They Hate us

TEN CHILDREN KILLED BY U.S. AIR STRIKE IN AFGHANISTAN

"Child casualties from air strikes have increased every year since 2014."

Palestinian volunteer medic killed by Israeli forces in Bethlehem

"Death machines were rumblin' 'cross the ground where Jesus stood" - Steve Earl Jerusalem

Saturday - Again.....

Comics

Found at Political Irony

Media

Reporting on Palestine


Apps

All the Crime, All the Time: How Citizen Works: An app called Citizen promises “awareness” of nearby danger. What it provides is more complicated.


Medicare for All

Establishment Democrats Are Undermining Medicare for All - Pelosi and the Establishment D's need to go.

Medicare for all won't change much. 24 States, 50% or More of Babies Born on Medicaid; New Mexico Leads Nation With 72%


Con Men

Religious Con Men


Israel -Palestine

Some history of the area and people

Support this! 2020 Dem Presidential Hopefuls Flee Israel lobbies’ AIPAC after MoveOn.org Boycott Call


Israel-Palestine-Trump-Golan Heights

Trump, Netanyahu and the Golan Heights - Sort of like Chamberlain agreeing to let Hitler take Sudeten from Czechoslovakia... or maybe just 21st century Nazis, joined at the hip.

Politics

Joe Biden Is Hillary Clinton 2.0 — Democrats Would Be Mad to Nominate Him

Politics is not a Market place.  Stumbling and Mumbling: AGAINST RETAIL POLITICS

Sarah Palin Broke the Republican Party - No she didn't. The rightward pull of Fox Propaganda and Right-wing talk radio made it possible for nut-jobs like Palin to rise to the top. Palin could have been the wingnut leader but didn't quite have drive it takes. Trump did, so he took over the cult.

Saturday

Fun

Dice Roll: The Phantom Gambler


College Scandal

What the college cheating scandal says about race - No CNN, it's not about race it's about class.

More about class. We’re Losing the War on Corruption- Paul Manafort and Felicity Huffman are twin avatars of an elite that still acts with impunity.



Israel and the Golan Heights

US drops 'Israeli-occupied' designation from Golan Heights

UN rejects Israel's claim over Syria's Golan Heights: Security Council says status of the Golan will not change after Netanyahu vows it will remain part of Israeli territory.

Here's what CNN had to say about it.............................

Here's what FOX had to say about it.............................

Foreign Affairs

According to Spanish investigators, two of the men who broke into the diplomatic headquarters have connections to the US intelligence service

US Regime Change Blueprint Proposed Venezuelan Electricity Blackouts as ‘Watershed Event’

It's just a lot harder to hide this sort of activity in the internet age.

Here's what CNN and FOX had to say about this.............................

Media and Politics

Tulsi Gabbard on Colbert

Medicare for All

I read 1,182 emergency room bills this year. Here’s what I learned.

Roaming Charges: Straighten Up and Fly Right

+ Why health insurance companies secretly loved ObamaCare and will fight like hell against single-payer: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, a “nonprofit” health insurance company, posted $580 million in net revenue (profits) on $29.3 billion in total revenue in 2018. It’s CEO Dan Loepp saw his compensation grow 43% in 2018 to $19.2 million.

American Crapitalism

It's Magic! Betsy DeVos' Department of Education allows Grand Canyon University to call itself non-profit while its parent company reports profit margin of 27 percent



American Corruption

Also,..... Does anyone want to bet what country this is? Confirmed: Mueller seeking subpoena, contempt citation against foreign corporation

Wednesday

Misc 

Good Stuff from Axios

Luck and Success

THE MORAL IMPORTANCE OF LUCK

"All such outcomes involve a large portion of luck. 

The promise of great financial reward spurs risk-taking, market competition, and innovation. Markets, properly regulated, are a socially healthy form of gambling. There’s no reason to try to completely equalize market outcomes. But there’s also no reason to allow hunger, homelessness, ill health, or subjugation."

Oh.... to be rich enough to just donate millions to get my kid into college through the back door instead of that illegal side door. The rich sure do have it tough.... A tax break might make them feel better.


Police State

Disputed N.S.A. Phone Program Is Shut Down, Aide Says - Sure it is......



Politics

Ian Welsh: The Democratic party establishment is still run by moderates; and those moderates still respect the right and despise the left.

Balkinization on Trumps Budget - Understanding the President’s Budget Proposal

Critics are no doubt correct that this budget proposal will be “dead on arrival” in Congress:  almost all presidential budget proposals are.  It nonetheless remains significant for several reasons.  First, it provides a comprehensive statement of this Administration’s values and priorities.  It makes the 2017 upper-income tax cuts permanent – at a cost of $275 billion in 2028 alone – at the same time it would impose 30% reductions in food stamps as well as deep cuts in Social Security Disability Insurance, Supplemental Security Income for the elderly and disabled, Medicaid, and family income support. 

Fox Propaganda

What Makes Fox News So Dangerous

Fox Lies Again - A constant barrage of little things like this built the wingnut party.

Other media outlets and our government officials lie too. NYT’s Exposé on the Lies About Burning Aid Trucks in Venezuela Shows How U.S. Government and Media Spread Pro-War Propaganda



US and Israel

Lindsey Graham has lost his mind.

“To give this territory up would be a strategic nightmare for Israel. And who would you give it to?” said US Sen. Lindsey Graham Monday on a visit to the Golan with PM Binyamin Netanyahu. He promised to work with Senator Cruz on a move to recognize the Golan as part of Israel “now and forever.” It was taken by military force “ because it served as a launching pad to attack Israel. There is rich Jewish history in this region,” said Sen. Graham. He went on to say: “I can’t tell you how much intelligence has been given us from our friends in Israel to protect the American homeland… so its security is relevant to American national security.”

From Haaretz

Medicare for All

Pharma & Insurance Gave $43M to the 129 House Democrats Not Backing Medicare for All

Tuesday

Cool Stuff






US Politicians vs Israel

A pretty good summary of the recent uproar - I am told I am anti-American if I am not pro-Israel’ and that’s problematic — Ilhan Omar stands strong amid blizzard of attacks

From the always good Naked Capitalism

Fox: The Propaganda Network

Fox News’s propaganda isn’t just unethical — research shows it’s enormously influential

The Making of the Fox News White House: Fox News has always been partisan. But has it become propaganda?

[IT ISN'T FOX THAT'S CHANGED].

"Fox is what it always was. It always shilled for the GOP, or at least the wing of the GOP that was the least conciliatory. It always used fear to radicalize its viewers and to win viewer loyalty. The only difference is that now one of those loyal marathon viewers is president."

I agree with Steve at the No More Mister Nice blog.  

Fox has been feeding fear and hate to fuel right-wing rage since day one. There was just never a wingnut candidate available to take the reins of the Fox cult and be the great leader.  

Several tried, Sarah Palin, Michell Bachmann, Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee, Herman Cain, Newt, etc. they all tried. These nuts did well on Fox, in the Iowa caucus, and a few other early primaries but the R party regulars were always against them and they just didn't have the skills or power-base to pull it off. 

Trump did! He shared (or had been filled with) all the same Fox wingnut ideas but he also had the image of a business leader and national media recognition. He pulled it off and became the leader of the Fox cult and Fox became state TV.

Socialism

US Left - "We want the government to do more to take care of people."

US Right - "That's Socialism. It sucks, look at Cuba and Venezuela."

US Left - "We don't want full Socialism like Cuba or Venezuela, government control of everything. We want Democratic Socialism like the European countries, Norway, Sweden, etc. where the free market can do what it does well and Government handles areas where the free market tends to fail, like healthcare, retirement, disabilities, education, childcare, infrastructure, etc.

US Right - "Norway isn't socialist so you can't have that! You dumb people"

Link Here: Sorry Bernie Bros But Nordic Countries Are Not Socialist

Monday

The kids are all right

Democratic party elites silence Ilhan Omar at their peril: The congresswoman’s foreign policy views are far more in line with voters than the disconnected party establishment

If Democratic leaders were incredulous at Omar’s statements, rank-and-file Democrats were just as incredulous at their party leaders. Why, many asked, is it routine to criticize the influence of NRA money but almost forbidden to question the influence of Aipac money? On top of that, how could Trump’s neocon criminal be lauded as some sort of ally while Omar was treated as a pariah? 

and

Democrats need to have a real conversation, immediately, about the party’s values and goals in foreign policy. Squelch it now and watch it resurge in 2020, with Trump the beneficiary.

Medicare for All

Jayapal Says Medicare for All Bill Coming in Two Weeks as Expert Calls Plan 'Astonishingly Strong'

Tell Your Congress-Rat to support it. Support Medicare for all


Tech

The Route of a Text Message, a Love Story: The surprisingly complex journey a text message takes every time we hit 'send.'

They missed the local police department stinger and the NSA

Terrorism

Al Qaeda-linked jihadists kill 21 Syrian soldiers near Idlib province - I guess if we call them Al Qaeda, we can claim we've defeated ISIS.

Saturday

Tech

U.S. companies put record number of robots to work in 2018

"Pressure to automate is growing as companies seek to cut labor costs in a tight job market. Many companies that are considering bringing work back from overseas in response to the Trump administration’s trade wars may find automation the best way to stay competitive, even with higher-cost U.S. workers." 

and  

“The food industry is really starting to take off” as a market for automation, said Dan Hasley, director of sales and marketing for Kawasaki Robotics (USA) Inc, part of Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries .

Thugs

Matt Gaetz investigated over threatening Michael Cohen tweets

"Gaetz tweeted at Cohen, "Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat. I wonder if she'll remain faithful when you're in prison. She's about to learn a lot..."

I can't see why this wouldn't earn some sort of criminal charge. It seems like clear cut witness tampering/threatening. 

Politics

The Intercept on Feinstein vs the Kids - The Fox News-Talk Radio wingnuts have been pulling hard on the right for years while the establishment Ds just sat there and let us drift into this mess. Now the Progressives Ds and the SDs are pulling hard on the left too. Hope they keep it up. They are our only hope to wrestle control from the corporate elite.

oh,... and Feinstein needs to go.

No More Mister Nice on pulling to the right. CPAC and the Media: Why?


Medicare for All

Is Nancy Pelosi Lying or Just Plain Stupid? - Well,... she ain't stupid. She's telling the story the donors want the US people to hear.

oh,... and Pelosi needs to go.


Iran Sanctions

India and China Defy Trump on the Iranian Oil Boycott: Instead of deterring the two countries from trading with Iran, the sanctions seem to have strengthened economic ties.

Little wonder that Iran’s oil exports in January at 1.1 to 1.3 million bpd were higher than 1 million bpd in December.

It looks like the rest of the world is give Trump a big "F**k You" on Iran.

Israel vs US

An Israeli firm spying on and threatening US Citizens.

• How a Private Israeli Intelligence Firm Spied on Pro-Palestinian Activists in the U.S.
• I was the target of a private Israeli intelligence firm, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt

It sure feels like there's been a shift in how we view and how the media is reporting Israeli meddling in US issues.  Maybe it's just my media/info bubble ?

Trump, Cohen, and the Rs

Probably the best summary of the Cohen testimony I've seen: [Hail Mary] from the always good Gin and Tacos

But it's a real Hail Mary for the GOP to rally around the defense of, this man who was the close, trusted ally of the president for 10+ years and served as his fixer is a vicious lying scumbag felon. They appointed Cohen finance chair of the Republican National Committee in 2017, for christ's sake. To call that argument an insult to the intelligence of their audience is an understatement. It's beyond stupid and it relies entirely on the assumption that people will support it without thinking about it if they are told to.

Does it bring anything closer to resolution? Who the fuck knows, and frankly at this point it is probably to the Democrats' advantage for Trump to run in 2020 rather than a last-minute replacement president who would give the GOP the appearance of having rid itself of its cancer. But it's pretty clear from watching the pathetic display put on by the GOP members of Congress during those hearings that the problem runs far, far deeper than one man. Whenever the Trump show is over, I have a feeling he's going to take more than a few of these allies down with him. If you want to lose a night of sleep, try thinking about the fact that some large percentage of your fellow Americans watched that shitshow and liked what they saw. Some of them liked it a great deal.

Don't get me wrong, we're all going on a three-week bender when Trump is finished, but man, this is not a problem that gets resolved quickly or easily. The president is the symptom, not the virus.

Trump, Cohen, and the Ds

"Cohen's fear - by digby

I don't believe this. Both parties scare their base with stories that the other guy is planning on taking over. The Rs did it with Obama. The Ds are doing it with Trump. If I had to bet, Trump is getting tired of it all, or scared, and wants out. Pence has been in the news some lately on foreign policy issues. I think he's gearing up to run in 2020.

Terrorism?

US offers $1m reward for capture of Osama bin Laden’s son (Mar 1, 2019 @ 12:03)

"Hamza bin Laden, 30, has threatened attacks on the US and allies to avenge his father Osama’s death in May 2011 by US commandos. The US State Department announced a $1m reward for information leading to his capture. “Hamza bin Laden is emerging as a leader of the AQ franchise,” said the notice. Osama Bin Laden had groomed his son to take over the AQ leadership. In August 2015, he began releasing audio and video messages on the Internet calling on his followers to launch attacks against the United States and its Western allies. “On January 5, 2017, the Department of State designated Hamza bin Laden as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.  His assets based in the United States were frozen"

I'd guess we should expect a terrorist attack any day now. 

To Wednesday

History

Why Civilizations Collapse

War

The Kalashnikov assault rifle changed the world. Now there’s a Kalashnikov kamikaze drone. - wonderful. The American capitalist war-monger weapons dealers better get their own version out there, lest they lose a few precious dollars. If their terrorists are going to have them, our terrorists freedom-fighters will have them too.


Cyber War

U.S. Cyber Command operation disrupted Internet access of Russian troll factory on day of 2018 midterms - This seems more like a propaganda piece from a group wanting more money in their next budget.


Political Economy

5. Don't worry about the national debt

"The bottom line: There is no evidence from 240 years of American history that the level of the national debt has ever really mattered. The U.S. prints its own currency, and can borrow as much as it likes, increasingly from domestic investors. Per Buffett, deficit hawks have preached doom for decades. They have never been proven correct."

BREXIT AS SYMPTOM  - This works for the US too, just replace Brexit with Trump as you read.


Media

 The U.S.-Venezuela Aid Convoy Story Is Clearly Bogus, but No One Wants to Say It

"Despite all the evidence before them, MSNBC, CNN and countless other networks and publications across the ideological spectrum refuse to frame this humanitarian gambit as an act of hostility. Instead, knowing what they know and who they are covering, they have largely portrayed Trump, Bolton and Abrams as champions of the Venezuelan people."

Tell me again about out left-wing media? They all seem to be in line with the Venezuela story.

Medicare for All

US HEALTHCARE DISGRACE: GOFUNDME-CARE SYMPTOMATIC OF EXTREME INEQUALITY

"Rob Solomon, the CEO of GoFundMe revealed this week that one-third of the billions of dollars the popular crowdfunding site has raised since its inception went toward somebody’s medical expenses.

“It saddens me that this is a reality,” Solomon told Kaiser Health News. Sure, it’s sad, but more than anything else, it should enrage all Americans struggling to make ends meet.

How is it possible that, in the world’s richest country, people have to resort to begging for money online in order to survive?

The answer, of course, is that this is happening by design. The US could provide healthcare to everybody — but those in power have chosen not to. Instead, they decided to craft a system that wrings the most amount of money out of those who are sick and then funnels that money to doctors, drug manufacturers, hospitals, and insurance providers.

Ultimately, a nice chunk of those billions will find their way back into the campaign coffers of the architects of the system"

Israel - Palestine

Kushner: US peace plan wants Palestinians under one leadership

"Washington also hopes to see “a reconciliation between the Palestinian leaderships in Gaza and the West Bank” and the Palestinians “united under one leadership.”

I guess he doesn't know Bush tried to get the Palestinians united under one leadership. Held free and fair elections where the Palestinians elected a lot of Hamas folks that Israel and the US didn't like. The Israelis spent the next few months arresting and/or killing a lot of the newly elected representatives to squash the newly elected government.  

So,...It ain't going to happen. It might be sold as "one leadership" but it has to be one leadership approved by/bought and owned by the Israelis. The Palestinian people as a whole won't have a say in the matter.

There's only room for one democracy in the middle east.

Also.... Israeli Bulldozers uproot 300 Palestinian-Owned Trees near Jenin

Sunday AM

Politics

A young progressive generation led by grouchy old people. Feinstein need to go. She's part of the problem. - Dianne Feinstein's climate change discussion with schoolchildren gets heated.

Fox and the wingers are always pulling to the right dragging along the middle-of-the-road crowd. At least now there are some lefties pulling back. ABUSIVE AUDIENCE


Israel

Netanyahu and the right-wing Likud party are the problem. Can AIPAC sell Netanyahu’s Kahanist Terrorists to Middle America?


Mr. Wolfram is organized. Some crazy stuff here. I guess it works for him.  Seeking the Productive Life: Some Details of My Personal Infrastructure


Propaganda

US Media....."Nothing to see in France but wow, look at Venezuela."   Thousands march across France for the Gilets Jaunes' "Act XV"


The War on Drugs

The drug dealers who never go to jail. Sackler behind OxyContin fraud offered twisted, mind-boggling defense