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

Saturday

Trump

GET OUT OF THE BOAT

"Electing Trump president was pretty much the same thing as electing Dennis Rodman president, i.e., a washed-up celebrity from the 1980s with obvious mental health issues and a bizarre affection for the North Korean regime.  Really the only significant difference now is the tattoos.  (To be fair Rodman was actually good at something once upon a time, so comparing him to Trump is kind of unfair in that regard)."

Police State

THE POLICE AND FASCISTS: A LOVE AFFAIR - Police are in general, not the friends of the general public.



Health Care

Two hundred years of health and medical care - Take-a-way from this chart? - If you think Obamacare fucked-up the cost of healthcare in this country. Fuck You! It's been on an almost direct line since 1960.

Socialism

Socialism right in the Middle of Trump Country. Wayne County Indiana

"That work paid off in a big way recently with the news that more than $4 million in federal funding will be coming to Wayne County to cover most of the price tag for three expensive bridges."

Here in the middle of Trump country*, evangelical, Eastern Indiana Teabagistan where we hate the big federal government and socialism, we like do things for ourselves or let the free market handle it. Well, except when we're the folks getting the federal cash. Oh,.. we like our farm subsidies too. 

* Wayne county was 62% Trump. All the surrounding counties were at 70% Trump.


Pence and Iran 

PENCE SAYS TIME HAS COME FOR EU TO WITHDRAW FROM IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL -

Mike Pence starting his run to challenge Trump? I wouldn't doubt it a bit, but the meeting seems to have been a bust.

"But Great Britain and Italy were the only two EU nations in attendance. Others– including France, Germany, and the EU's high representative for foreign affairs– declined to send high level officials to the ministerial, protesting the tone of a conference they claimed was designed to undermine a nuclear deal with Tehran they continue to abide." 

Also, from Juan Cole: Trump’s Attempt to Strongarm Europe on Iran Crashes and Burns

"On Friday at a Munich security meeting, Germany’s foreign minister, Heiko Maas, replied to the chiding of Vice President Mike Pence that Iran is destabilizing the region. Maas remarked that “Together with the British, the French and the entire European Union, we have found a means to allow Iran to remain in the nuclear accord. Our objective remains the lack of nuclear weapons, precisely because Iran destablizes the region.” Without the accord, “the region will not be more secure, but would in fact take a further step toward open confrontation.”

Us and Israel

Three articles on Israel's influence on US politics. note... Of course,  It's not about the Benjamins...

The New Republic - This Is What the Beginning of a Real Israel Debate Looks Like: Before Ilhan Omar came to the national stage, Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer tried to discuss pro-Israel lobbying. They were shouted down.

The New Yorker - Private Mossad for Hire: Inside an effort to influence American elections, starting with one small-town race.

The Nation - This Is How AIPAC Really Works: An AIPAC and Capitol Hill veteran explains the lobby’s tactics of reward and retribution

Friday Propaganda

Fox is on it today. The biggest news story on every real news site is Trump planning an unprecedented step by declaring a national emergency to build his wall.

Here are the top headlines on the Fox Site

FBI tried plotted a coup. Dems are stupid and coming for your guns. A couple of murder stories.

Pretty close to National Enquirer.

They shouldn't be allowed to call themselves a news site. 

Thursday

Propaganda

Here’s a Fox article, (not the video I didn’t watch it.) from a front page headline that is absolute BS just designed to scare people.

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/dan-bongino-americans-still-love-capitalism-here-are-three-reasons-why-they-arent-flocking-to-socialism

The 3 points are all BS designed to scare people.

1. Americans enjoy eating food.
1. Hinting that…. You’ll starve under socialism
2. Americans don't want to be equally poor
1. Hinting …..You’ll be poor under socialism
3. Freedom of speech matters
1. Later line says….. under the threat of torture for speaking out.

No one…. Not one….  of the Democratic socialists has ever called for anything like this. Even the most radical people I read, and some are way out there, are not calling for this.

They simply want to expand some existing programs to help take care of people.

Medicare for all, public education, cleaner environment, Less military spending. Again the European model.

Fox jumps right to some scary, imagined, full-communist vision that no one is suggesting and never mentions the European version that really does work.

Fox should have it’s “News” designation taken away for this alone.

Thursday - 2

Establishment D's

After promising health care execs that Medicare for All was dead, Pelosi's team plans toothless pharma deal

Socialism

Is Socialism Still An Effective Political Bogeyman?


2020

THE CENTER ISN’T WHERE VOTERS ARE - a post about Howard Shultz but the headline is the key. The center isn't where the voters are, it is firmly occupied by business, media, and donors. The D voters liked Sander's policies enough to push HRC to the limit even though the entire D machine was pushing against him. Trump beat all the establishment R's by appealing to the far-right, Fox News- Teagbagger side of the party.  The R's lost control. The D's damn-near did. The voters are the outliers.



AIPAC

Don’t blame the Israel lobby on Christians and Republicans

Ian Welsh: When Are You Guilty For The Crimes Of Your Group -


Media

Found at Political Irony

Saturday #1

2020

Tulsi Gabbard  - Except for being a bit squishy on LBGTs, she sounds pretty good.



Trump

Trump Is Wrong. When The Opposition Party Runs The House, The President Gets Investigated. - I think "Trump is wrong" is better than "Trump is Lying" here. You can't lie if you just don't know what the fuck you are talking about.

Corruption

MAKE AMERICA GRIFT AGAIN

The committee paid a total of $700,000 to the Trump International Hotel for event spaces for four days in January 2017. At the time, a consultant working for the inaugural committee expressed her concern over email that the price quoted by the Trump hotel — $175,000 per day for several event spaces — was too high, as ProPublica and WNYC reported in December. 

“Please take into consideration that when this is audited it will become public knowledge,” wrote Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, an experienced New York-based event planner, suggesting a fair rate for the event spaces would be at most $85,000 per day, less than half of what was ultimately paid. That fee did not cover catering.

Tax Cuts

PAUL RYAN, POLITICAL SUPERGENIUS

“Ask people how much they paid in taxes, nobody knows. Ask them how much they got in their refund, people know,” Howard Gleckman , a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, told the Intercept’s David Dayen this week. “Everyone focuses on size of the refund, and it does affect perception.”

In other words: It looks as though the Republican Party implemented their signature tax bill in a manner that will lead many people who received tax cuts to believe that Donald Trump raised their taxes.

Yep, people are in general, dumb as shit about taxes.  The R's tried to take advantage of it. I hope it bites them in the ass.

Israel and US Politics

Jimmy Carter believed he lost a second term because he opposed settlements, alienating Jews — Eizenstat - US politicians have to be careful with the settlements. The wrong policy stance can cost you an election.

When George H.W. Bush died last year, we revisited the idea that he was a one-term president in part because he vigorously took on the Israel lobby over settlements in 1991, and paid a price. Even Tom Friedman said that was the political lesson of the Bush presidency for Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, neither of whom did much to oppose settlements.

And everyone knows that settlements bedeviled the Obama presidency. “It is time for these settlements to stop,” Obama declared in Cairo, till he faced reelection, and reversed course two years later under pressure from Netanyahu and Jewish organizations, and vetoed a settlements resolution at the U.N. And then he reversed course again– and in one of the last acts of his presidency, Obama allowed an anti-settlements resolution to go through in December 2016 (a move that Donald Trump sought to undermine by reaching out to the Russians).

What I did not know till I read the new book, “Jimmy Carter, The White House Years,” by his former top domestic policy adviser Stuart Eizenstat, is that Israeli settlements also bedeviled the Carter administration. 

Saturday #3 - Bezos

Did the National Enquirer blackmail Amazon’s Jeff Bezos to Protect the Saudi Crown Prince?
and Pecker miscalculated - This sounds more Trump collusion-y than the Russia thing.

.. another Bezos Article Jeff Bezos Accuses the National Enquirer of Sextortion

.. and another National Enquirer blackmail claim. Maybe its time for that rag to go out of business.

Ronan Farrow says he also faced ‘blackmail efforts from AMI’ for reporting on the National Enquirer, Trump

Even more on the Bezos Thing

Jeff Bezos’ investigator suspects 'a government agency' intercepted Amazon CEO's text messages

These two tweets stood out.

Even more on Bezos.  This, from last year seems relevant. or really, seems like a threat.

“TRUMP IS LIKE, ‘HOW CAN I F--K WITH HIM?’”: TRUMP’S WAR WITH AMAZON (AND THE WASHINGTON POST) IS PERSONAL - With the West Wing finally calm, Trump is contemplating a multi-front campaign against Jeff Bezos

Now, according to four sources close to the White House, Trump is discussing ways to escalate his Twitter attacks on Amazon to further damage the company. “He’s off the hook on this. It’s war,” one source told me. “He gets obsessed with something, and now he’s obsessed with Bezos,” said another source. “Trump is like, how can I fuck with him?”

Saturday #2 - Propaganda

Presenting right-wing Fox News contributor as "WSJ Writer"

Fox plays up that a "WSJ writer" slammed AOCs Green New Deal without mentioning that the WSJ writer is a Fox News contributor and basically a conservative hack. It makes it easier to convince the rubes that everyone is against AOCs plan if they can show articles from non-Fox sources.

Drudge implies Bezos is the problem here.....

Fox Misrepresents Democratic-Socialists vs Communists

Showing "Democratic-Socialists" who want the US to be more like Sweden, Norway and other European countries. Misrepresenting living in a "socialist" country. The person grew up in communist, not socialist, not democratic-socialist, China. China, who by the way, now seems to be beating the US at capitalism.

Fox primes the hate/anger pump.

One school is stupidly politically correct so you are right to hate the education system and political correctness

Fox twisting things around

I don't remember Hillary's testimony being "Political Theatre"

I hear a lot of D's calling for D resignations. I don't remember any R's not sticking with Kavanaugh

Remember what they did to poor Roger Stone.

Progressive are hypocrites because their billionaires exploit workers too. Maybe we should just leave the billionaires alone.

Dems are dumb, hypocritical, and weak on homeland security, especially Muslim Dems.

Wednesday

Trump

Gin and Tacos with a great description of Trump as the President. CalvinBall

"Donald Trump isn't even trying to be president in any sense that the job of the president is understood. An analogy might illustrate my point best. Imagine you wanted to rank the (53 x 2) 106 quarterback performances in the Super Bowl. But you didn't have 106 quarterbacks – you had 105, and then this one guy who showed up on game day wearing a loincloth, swinging around a baseball bat, and making no effort to play the game at all. He simply showed up, preened for the crowd, and screamed "Fuck you!" at the referees for three hours."

The Tax Returns - We may finally see Trump’s tax returns, and Republicans are panicking


Propaganda

GOP LEADERSHIP INSTRUCTS LAWMAKERS TO PLAY UP GRUESOME MURDERS AND RAPES BY IMMIGRANTS  -  The Rs have beat the shit out of the Ds in the propaganda war for years.

Pulling the Rope - A damned good couple of paragraphs that explain the Establishment D's ineptitude. It doesn't hurt that the Rs have a major "news"network to prime the pump, still the Ds suck at this. Bernie, AOC, and the new crop of progressives can only help.

"Here’s what conservatives have always understood: in order to win at politics you pull as hard as you can in your preferred direction all the time, no matter what the immediate consequences. You don’t pick some arbitrary point on the righthand side of the line and say, “let’s shoot for that target.” Because if you do that you’re limited your ability to haul the rope as hard as you possibly can. Democrats have never understood this. They chase the center, thinking that this will make them more popular and give them more power. But the center they’re chasing is getting pulled to the right. Because their opponents know: all you do is pull the rope. Liberal thinkers wax poetic about how a health political society includes something like balance across the rope so we can have a Burkean parlor blah blah blah. And conservatives tug the rope."

Free Speech

Every Senator who voted for this should be run out of office. Free Speech except when speaking about Israel


Socialism

Fox Propaganda doing its best to support the orange one and scare people away from "Socialism".

What they won't tell you is that we are "socialist" now. We fund our military, support our old and disabled folks, build roads, bridges, teach our children all with socialist policies. The Bernie and AOC crowd just want to move the line a little to include a few other things like healthcare for all, cheaper college, etc.

NO ONE.... NO ONE.... is calling for for pure socialism, government control of all means of production.

Bernie and AOC want to let private business and markets provide the things they are good at, iPhones, cars,  consumer products, etc.  But,... They want to have the government handle the things where the market is not so good, healthcare, education, etc. That's the European model of democratic socialism and it works.

Anyone who talks "Socialist" without explaining this is trying to mislead you.

Vote Democratic socialist.

Tuesday

Tax the Rich

Everyone, or damned near everyone supports higher axes on rich


Medicare for All

The Fox Propaganda Machine is beginning to respond. It's Time To Stop Being Afraid Of Medicare For All.

The D Establishment working against the people again.  Throw Pelosi out.

TOP NANCY PELOSI AIDE PRIVATELY TELLS INSURANCE EXECUTIVES NOT TO WORRY ABOUT DEMOCRATS PUSHING “MEDICARE FOR ALL”

"Pelosi adviser Wendell Primus detailed five objections to Medicare for All and said that Democrats would be allies to the insurance industry in the fight against single-payer health care."

This is what we want......[link]

".. Others, led by Bernie Sanders, seek to replace the hodgepodge of private and public health plans with “Medicare for All” – a single-payer program covering everyone without copays or deductibles." 

 "Improved “Medicare for all” can affordably provide healthcare to everyone. It’s widely supported by the progressive base – and indeed by the majority of the nation in most polls." 

Hell, I'd vote for Trump if he support Sander's Medicare for All plan.



Trump, The R's, and Israel

Trump Kneels Again Before AIPAC

The #1 contributor to the Rs over the last two elections. Adelson Has Hijacked the Israeli-American Community for His Hard-right Agenda

Saturday Morning

The Budget Deficit

Deficit reduced
     - Every year under Clinton
     - Every year under Obama except his last year in office.

Deficit Increased
     - Half of the Bush years
     - Trumps only full year listed

President Trump’s First Two Years, in 13 Metrics

Life Lesson for my Kids

Want to transform your life? Stop chasing perfection

".. happiness equals reality minus expectations"

"Your effort to become the sort of person who finds happiness in what they already have can easily become its own interminable quest, in which success – and therefore happiness – always lies in some fantasy of the future, rather than in the here and now."

Life's a journey not a destination 

TIME FOR HAPPINESS

In fact, research consistently shows that the happiest people use their money to buy time. My colleagues and I have conducted correlational, longitudinal, and experimental research with nearly 100,000 working adults from all over the world. We consistently find that people who are willing to give up money to gain more free time — by, say, working fewer hours or paying to outsource disliked tasks — experience more fulfilling social relationships, more satisfying careers, and more joy, and overall, live happier lives.

Money can't buy happiness but it can buy time, and having more time makes you happier,... unless you can't afford food or shelter.

Politics

A good post on the state of the union: The Capitalist Adults Are in the Room

What The Left Gets Wrong About Bernie Sanders And Elizabeth Warren - Regardless, the Left is never going to get a fair shake from corporate media.


The Bullshit

Another Trump "Winning So Big" fades out. Political Irony: Out Foxed  An Update.... Speaking Of Vaporware.

"You're going to have such great health care and at a tiny fraction of the cost." The orange bullshitter on the campaign trail.


The Dollar

Trump’s Brilliant Strategy to Dismember U.S. Dollar Hegemony - Using the dollar to fight an economic war will lead to its undoing as the reserve currency. The rest of the world is realizing they need a currency weapon too.