Notes From the Democratic Convention

A fun read here: Night of the Hollow Men: Notes From the Democratic Convention:

Including....

Introducing Michael Bloomberg to present the Bililionaire Seal of Approval to Ms. Hillary Clinton! 

Bloomberg: “We don’t need a bomb thrower as president.” Apparently, we need another drone launcher, instead! 

Leave it to Bloomberg to give the most coherent indictment of Trump. There’s no hate quite as pure as that between rival billionaires. 

and

Obama may have been impotent to stop the killing of the kids at Newtown or the church members in Charleston. But he had complete authority to stop the killing of children, doctors, nurses, and wedding parties in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan killed by his drone strikes.

and

 Obama could sell Trump Steaks to a vegan.

and to finish

Barack Obama possesses so many scintillating skills, perhaps more skills than any other political figure of the modern era. Yet he put those magical gifts to such meagre, timid and often brutal uses. What a waste. 

His is the tragedy of a squandered presidency.

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Pax Trumpiana

Pax Trumpiana - The New York Times:

"But Trump doesn’t care about any of that — he basically wants America to behave like Rome at its worst, to become the predatory power of Lucullus and Sulla."

I'm no Trump supporter but how is this different from the way the US has acted for say the last 30 years?


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The End of America

Another good one from StoneKettle Station.

The Latter Days Of A Better Nation, Part III

Here's a piece but read it all:

Everything is a worst case scenario. Fear. Terror. Panic. Fire and flood, invasion, war, plague and famine, chaos in the life support system. And if that's not enough, their mean spoiled little shithead of a God is always about to send in a hurricane or an earthquake or a flood or a Wall Street crash because he's pissed off and throwing a tantrum about some goddamned thing. Ebola. Iran. Vladimir Putin. Gay marriage. Transgenders in the bathrooms. The shambling 50-years-dead ghost of Saul Alinsky. United Nations troops marching on Texas. Black people in the streets. Islam in the schools. They're coming for our daughters, they're coming for our healthcare, they're coming for our Jesus, Oh My GOD they're coming for our guns! They hate us for our freedom, they hate us for our exceptionalism, they hate us because they anus. 

It's always some goddamned thing with these people. 

They crow about how great America is – this mythological magical exceptional America where everybody is either a straight white protestant who lives in a little house with a white picket fence and a giant H-1 Hummer SUV out front and farms the land from horseback with an American Flag and a Bible in one hand and an AR-15 Super Jesus Peacemaker in the other while the woman folk pop out little white Christian babies like Pez dispensers and God showers down Viagra from the sky in a rain of freedom and liberty Hallelujah and Amen or they're the fucking help and they know their place. 

These people, they harp endlessly about the greatness of this nation, how their God has chosen us – us – over all others, our military might, our fabled Constitution ... while at the same time crying endlessly like Chicken Little about how it's all so fragile that if you don't do exactly as they say, why, it'll all come tumbling down. Lights out, America. GAME OVER, MAN, GAME OVER!

Pence vs Kaine

StoneKettle Station on the VPs:

 I don't know if he's right on Kaine but he nails Pence.

Pence was the safe choice. 

Pence is anti-everything. He's Anti-immigrant (including birthright citizenship), Anti-Federal Reserve (and all the Glenn Beck conspiracy nuts cheered), Anti-tax (he's a flat-tax guy and the conservative libertarians just wet themselves in glee), Anti-Education, Anti-EPA and a climate change denier, Anti-renewable energy (fossil fuels all the way and drill baby drill), Anti-Iran Deal, Anti-healthcare, Anti-abortion, Anti-stem cell research, Anti-evolution, Anti-Science, Anti-sex education, Anti-LGBT. 

About the only thing Mike Pence is for is God, Guns, and War and not necessarily in that order.

Neoliberalism

A good read here: Neoliberalism Is a Political Project

I think this about nails my view of the current US economy.

Yet while the capitalist class is doing very well, capitalism is doing rather badly. Profit rates have recovered but reinvestment rates are appallingly low, so a lot of money is not circulating back into production and is flowing into land-grabs and asset-procurement instead.

Trump and Russia?

Trump & Putin. Yes, It's Really a Thing

 At a minimum, Trump appears to have a deep financial dependence on Russian money from persons close to Putin. And this is matched to a conspicuous solicitousness to Russian foreign policy interests where they come into conflict with US policies which go back decades through administrations of both parties.

Also this, Trump vs The R's

Trump is not the only politician to oppose sending lethal weapons to Ukraine. President Obama decided not to authorize it, despite recommendations to do so from his top Europe officials in the State Department and the military. '

So Trump is soft on Russia and his stance on arming the Ukraine is the same as Obama's?  I don't see all those Russian/Putin/Obama hating Trump supporters agreeing with this.

It might explain why Russia/Putin/Obama hater, Sarah Palin wasn't invited to the convention.

I guess, really, most of our ruling class are Russia/Putin haters so maybe this is D propaganda to lure R votes away from Trump.

Big Pharma

Their price increases are out of control.

This is What’s Cannibalizing the US Economy | Wolf Street:

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How to fix the police

Ted Rall on How to Fix the Broken Relationship Between the People and the Police:

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Saudi ties to 9/11

Bandar bin Sultan comes up a lot in this, Saudi Ties to 9/11

The report also mentions that numbers found in the phonebook of Abu Zubaydah, a detainee currently held in Guantánamo, could be traced to a company in Denver, Colorado, connected to former Saudi ambassador to the U.S. Prince Bandar bin Sultan.

and

Bassnan and his wife received regular payments from the wife of Bandar bin Sultan. On one occasion, Bassnan is said to have received a check directly from Bandar’s account.

More on Bandar here: Bandar bin Sultan

Bandar has formed close relationships with several American presidents, notably George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, the latter giving him the affectionate and controversial nickname "Bandar Bush".[11] His particularly close relationship with the Bush family was highlighted in Michael Moore's documentary Fahrenheit 9/11. He was reportedly so close to George H. W. Bush that he was often described as a member of the former president's family.

MIsc

A pretty good summary of the R candidates's here: They could have picked

Israel's Right-wing government against Facebook

Fracking is Freedom!? I guess we can do this now that we don't really need that Saudi oil. Saudi Ties to 9/11

How to Film Cops

Good stuff to know if you're going to film cops.

How to Film Cops | VICE | United States:

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Lock'em Up

From VOX found here:  http://voxeu.org/article/long-term-decline-us-prime-age-male-labour-force-participation-and-policies-address-it

Lobbyists

The Democrats Ignore the 500-Pound Lobbyist in the Room - BillMoyers.com:

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HRC and Snowden

H. Clinton and Ed Snowden: Some Animals are more Equal than others | Informed Comment:

Yep the elite exist under different laws than the rest of us. HRC, Patreus, Bush, Jeffery Epstein, that "unnamed source inside the White House or Congress",  etc can do things that would put a less rich and powerful person in jail. The very poor also live under a different set of laws. A poor black man can be executed for doing something that a middle class white man might be allowed to do.

It's pretty shitty.

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Tech Support

Why Tech Support Is (Purposely) Unbearable - The New York Times:

“Don’t think companies haven’t studied how far they can take things in providing the minimal level of service,” Mr. Robbins said. “Some organizations have even monetized it by intentionally engineering it so you have to wait an hour at least to speak to someone in support, and while you are on hold, you’re hearing messages like, ‘If you’d like premium support, call this number and for a fee, we will get to you immediately.’”

Bastards...

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Hillary can get things done?

No More Mister Nice Blog talks about how Hillary is dreaming if she thinks she can work with the R's.

No More Mister Nice Blog: HILLARY CLINTON THINKS REPUBLICAN LUCY MIGHT LET HER KICK THE FOOTBALL:

He's right.

The D's slammed Bernie because his policies, like universal health care and free college weren't achievable but as the post above points out, HRC's smaller plans aren't going anywhere either.

The only chance progressive's have in overcoming the R's obstinance is a great leader, with a grand vision, who can convince the people it's the right direction. That's how Reagan started the turn against the New-Deal era and that's what it'll take to turn away from the "Reagan is God. Government is the problem " era.

Hillary ain't going to do it.

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